How Do Software Engineers Choose Which Front End Framework To Use

How Complex Is The Project?

Selecting the right technology stack for your web application depends a lot on its complexity. If your project is a small project spanning a few web pages and having strict time constraints, using simple technologies the developer is already familiar with and content management systems like Joomla or WordPress is advisable. These are also great if you want to deliver a working prototype quickly and plan to continue with the subsequent development of the project later.

If the project is neither too simple nor too complex, the developers tend to use a combination of suitable programming languages to develop various essential functionalities of the portal. A heavy processing load demands the usage of complex frameworks able to support the features.

How Expert Is The Team And How Wide Is Their Knowledge Base?

Another important factor to consider before committing to a framework is the expertise and the knowledge base of your team. Any project involves as much effort after the completion of development as before and during the process. Before choosing the framework, developers make sure that it has a huge community support and large developer base. Besides, the product developed must be easily testable. If you are trying to develop a cross-browser compatible application, employing the frameworks having cross-browser support is advisable.

Is It An Interactive Application Or Just A Static Collection Of Web Pages?

Whether the project you are developing is interactive or just a static collection of web pages also has a great say in the choice of framework. A website made up of static pages only, for instance, can easily be developed with a combination of HTML+CSS+Bootstrap. You do not need to increase your workload substantially by diving deep into the depths of complex frameworks for such requirements.

How Scalable Is The Proposed Application?

Scalability is the capability of the web portal to handle work and traffic. As the number of visitors and users increases, the application must essentially be able to handle the sudden shoot in traffic and keep functioning flawlessly. The developers often choose a technology which easily accommodates the future scope of the portal. While choosing a framework for the project at hand, developers make sure that it caters to the needs of horizontal as well as vertical scaling.

This implies that the project must run on several servers at the same time to handle the inflow of traffic. Besides, the framework must support the addition of new programs to enhance the functionality of the website. Before starting the development of the actual application, the team leader must make sure that a development team to successfully build the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is set up. It is the set of deliverables at the heart of the application and indispensable to its functionality. These are needed for the deployment of the web portal. It is generally based on the highest return investment and lowest risk factor.

How High Or Low Maintenance Is The Application?

The choice of the framework must be done with its after-effects in mind. Preferably, the developers go for frameworks which produce codes that are easy to maintain, analyze, test and update. Rather than resorting to a code with tough syntax, consider working with technologies having a simpler syntax and easy testing support.

Which Is The Best Shot Financially?

Even though most of the amazing web development tools and techniques are free and open source, yet sometimes they require you to pay some additional fee to enjoy the advanced benefits. Depending on the technology, you may sometimes be required to purchase the license as well. Thus, before committing to a technology you must understand the financial implications it brings along and proceed accordingly.

The total cost incurred for the infrastructure used during the development of the project is also an important factor to be considered. A firm has to pay the salaries of the developers and take care of a lot of other expenses as well. In short, if bringing down the bills is a major aspect, then you preferably go with open source technologies.

Is the Framework Cross Browser Compatible?

The framework that we use is directly related to the cross browser compatibility of the developed website or web application. Choosing a cross browser compatible framework in the first place saves you from unexpected cross browser compatibility blunders. Though, it does not assure you that there will be no browser compatibility issues however it decreases the chances.

So, even after using a framework supporting cross browser compatibility, you need to test the final website or web application for its browser support using some cross browser testing tool.

What Do My Instincts Say?

Lastly, developers often tend to choose what appeals to them the most. A technology may be the best in the market, have a great developer community and appeal to a lot of people but if it doesn’t fall in the skill set of a particular developer, he or she will not choose it. The personal preferences of the developer also play a significant role in the choice. You can act on the various suggestions being given to you or ignore them all and choose something entirely different.

Although there are no hard and fast rules for selecting a framework and it varies from project to project, still you can consider the above points as a suitable starting reference.

Austin Siewert

CEO, Vercel

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