Web App Development - Top 8 Popular Backend Frameworks in 2024

The technology landscape is always changing, which means it’s hard to keep up sometimes. Fortunately, one technology category that rarely goes out of style is web app development frameworks.

Web app frameworks are an essential part of a web application platform, basically serving as the plumbing that supports and provides the foundation for a website or web application's structure.

Web frameworks are primarily classified as frontend or backend. Frontend web frameworks mainly cater to the user experience, while backend web frameworks facilitate the overall functionalities of the application. 

With the right web development tools, you can make the most of your tech stack and top programming languages.

What is a Web App Development Framework?

 A web application framework is a set of tools and libraries that streamline the development of web applications. These frameworks can provide functionality such as database access and user authentication.

Although there are several different web application frameworks available for developers, each has its own strengths and weaknesses. This makes it simpler for developers to select the framework that best suits their particular needs.

Additionally, using a web application framework can help the web app development process by providing a set of tools that work well together and have been tested.

Best Web Application Frameworks to Consider

When choosing a web application framework, it's important to consider your needs, as well as those of the people on your development team.

The following are some of the best web application frameworks to consider in 2024.

1. Ruby on Rails
2. Angular JS
3. React Native
4. Express JS
5. Django
6. Vue.JS
7. Laravel
8. Ember

Let’s take a look at the 8 most popular web application frameworks in 2024, and what they can offer to developers in terms of ease of use and functionality.

Ruby on Rails

Rails is a Model-View-Controller framework that uses Ruby, and its popularity among developers has made it a beginner-friendly framework. Airbnb, GitHub, Hulu, and Shopify are just a few of the companies that use Node.js to build their web applications.

The framework is considered to be one of the best web application frameworks. It is fast and reliable, and ongoing debates about its pros and cons help people learning to code get a jump start.

There are many useful gems for rails—library-like dependencies that extend the functionalities of your application—and this makes developing faster and more efficiently even easier. 

Key Features

Ruby on Rails—recognized for its ability to easily build complex web apps—offers numerous features, including:

• Robust and well-built automatic testing features offer great accuracy, easy control, and better consistency.
• Fast, quick-paced development saves time and ensures high quality.
• ROR developers are easy to find in the Ruby on Rails community.

Angular JS

Angular is another open-source JavaScript framework that has gained popularity for building single-page apps and websites for mobile and desktop platforms. 

Google introduced Angular.js in 2010, rewrote it from scratch, and released it in 2016 as Angular 2 to build high-performance and large-scale JavaScript-based web apps

The JavaScript framework Angular is used by 22.96% of web developers worldwide, with 81.4k stars on GitHub and users including BMW and Xbox.

If you're looking to Hire Angular Developers, it's essential to understand its capabilities and popularity in the developer community.

AngularJS uses TypeScript, HTML, and CSS with web development tools to promote code consistency. The use of TypeScript makes developing enterprise-grade applications easier.

Key Features

• Angular helps you reduce the time it takes to develop an app. This feature also ensures that the model and view layers are synchronized in real-time.
• Using AngularJS templates will make your HTML code more readable and easier to develop.
• Angular helps developers build apps faster by providing reusable components and even architectures to help reduce the build time. This also makes testing easier.
• Open-source libraries make it easier to support multiple platforms.
• Angular CLI is a tool that helps you build and manage an Angular-made web application.

React Native

Releasing React in 2013, Facebook made a point to popularize it among developers and enterprises. React is a JavaScript library that allows you to create interactive UI components for your web apps.

The framework has been around for a few years now, which means that there's a big community of developers working with it, as well as a large number of resources for learning how to use it.

The Stackoverflow Developer Survey voted React as the most wanted framework to build web apps. The React library is regularly updated with new features and functionalities, which are tested in real-time by more than 2.8 million users worldwide.

Key Features

• With React, you can create reusable components to use in different parts of your application.
• JSX is a JavaScript syntax extension that makes it easier to create user interfaces in React. You can see your changes reflected in real-time, which makes it a great way to build websites.
• React applications use unidirectional data flow, reducing the number of bugs in your code.

Express JS

Express.js is a lightweight, fast, and minimalist server-side framework based on Node.js that allows developers to build backend web applications and APIs. 

Due to its robust features and minimalistic functionality, millions of web development firms utilize the framework for the development of highly scalable enterprise apps and APIs.

Express is one of the most popular frameworks for building Node.js web applications. Several other Node.js frameworks are built on top of Express, and it is an integral component of the MEAN stack.

Key Features

• The robust caching potential of Express JS reduces a website’s loading time by storing frequently accessed code on the server.
• This framework provides a way to build Node. js-based applications and APIs quickly, easily, and conveniently.
• Being a minimalistic and un-opinionated framework, Express.JS helps developers to build static content servers, RESTful APIs, and web apps.
• Express has a big, vibrant community of developers who actively contribute to the framework's growth.

Django

Django is a Python-based framework that lets you build highly scalable web apps. It can be used in any format, such as HTML, JSON, and XML. This tool is a favorite among developers for its clean, straightforward design. Built by experienced developers, this framework is a fast and open-source option to build powerful API features.

Key Features

• Django comes with built-in protection against cross-site scripting, cross-site request forgery attacks, and SQL injection.
• Built on top of the widely used Python programming language, this framework is highly portable and supports asynchronous and reactive programming.
• Django is built to be reusable, so it can handle any traffic demand. To handle its scalability, Django comes with caching options.
• Because Django applications are hosted on servers using URLs instead of IP addresses, they're easy to optimize for search engines.

Vue.JS

Vue.js is a progressive JavaScript framework for building SPAs and creating visually appealing user interfaces. It’s a combination of the excellent traits of Angular (View Layer) and React.js (Virtual DOM). It became popular quickly because it was introduced in 2014. As a result, Vue is one of the most popular frameworks for building responsive web applications.

You can get started with Vue without knowing much about libraries or tools. The documentation is good and it's easy to learn Vue. It's also based on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, which you might already know.

Key Features

• This framework enables you to build a web application by adding a reusable code library to a website.
• Vue's two-way data binding is reactive, so if either your UI or your data changes, the other will change as well.
• The Vue framework is open-source, community-driven, and has thousands of contributors. Its active development means that it releases updates frequently.

Laravel

Laravel is a Model-View-Controller framework written in the PHP programming language. It’s less mature than some other frameworks on this list, but it’s growing at a remarkable pace. The framework has become one of the most popular in the world, and several companies have adopted it, including Pinterest and Square.

Key Features

• It's based on Symfony, so you can use all the great tools that Symfony provides (like its command-line interface, dependency manager, test runner, and more) without having to learn any new tools or frameworks.
• A unique simple directory structure that makes it easy for everyone on a team to understand where things are located and how they relate to each other.
• Laravel is using Composer to manage its dependencies (i.e., code libraries). This means no more searching for the right version of jQuery or PHPUnit; Composer does all that for you!
• The framework comes with a lot of features out of the box: authentication; routing; sessions; caching; validation; localization support; and more!

Ember

Ember is the original JavaScript framework, and it has a reputation for being the best in its category. It’s an enormous framework with a lot of features and components—Google, Microsoft, Heroku, and Netflix use it often. 

This framework revolves around the developer’s productivity, attempting to maximize it by either eliminating the need for time-wasting activities or adopting some JavaScript best practices in its core design.

Key Features

• Ember’s data binding engine lets you display information from an object without having to write any code yourself. For example, if you have an object called "user" that has a name field and an age field, then when you bind those fields together in your template, any changes made to one will automatically update the other.
• It has a built-in router that helps keep your application organized as it grows in size and complexity. The router supports URL generation, bookmarkable URLs, and nested routes for complex apps.
• Ember templates let you create HTML with special markers that tell Ember how to display data in a given situation (for example, when the user clicks on something).
• It uses MVC (Model-View-Controller) architecture to help you organize your code and keep it clean. This means that you can see what each part of your app does separately.

How Can You Make Web App Development Easier with App Development Frameworks?

Web development frameworks provide developers with pre-written code that speeds up the creation of applications. Here are some of the benefits of using web app development frameworks.

• You get to focus on your application’s unique features instead of having to worry about the basics.
• Frameworks are often open-source and free, so there are no licensing fees involved.
• You can quickly get up and running with a framework, which saves time and money.
• Frameworks are often secure, so you won’t have to worry about hackers getting into your application because of a security hole in the framework itself.

Final Thoughts

Web app development can be tricky, but with the right framework and development team, it can be a much smoother process. The best Web app development frameworks written in high-end programming languages can provide your project with dynamic functionalities and attributes.

Once you've picked an accurate server environment and the right software consulting company, your project is half over. Make sure the framework you pick is fast, secure, and scalable.

Still, confused about which web application development framework to go for? Our team of software experts is ready to collaborate with you on your idea, helping you choose the best web app development frameworks for your next-generation web application. Reach out to InvoZone today for a free software development consultation.