Provided below is a list of the Ten (10) best web development framework you could use with their Pros and Cons, in no specific order.

In modern times where everyone seems to be on a constant move and trends are always changing.

Creating new web applications can become daunting to developers, fortunately, there are now tools that you could use to do your tasks, quicker and a lot more accurately.

Such tools are the Frameworks.

What are the Frameworks?

According to the ever-trusty Wikipedia, “ A web framework (WF) or web application framework (WAF) is a software framework that is designed to support the development of web applications including web services, web resources, and web APIs. Web frameworks provide a standard way to build and deploy web applications. “

What a web framework pretty much does is reduce the amount of time used in the development of web applications.

This is done by the use of libraries that are built-in together with the framework.

Through this, you could get all the necessary dependencies you will need instead of building them from scratch.

Web frameworks come in all sort of shapes and sizes, written and used with different programming languages.

Ruby on Rails

The language used: Ruby
Type of Render: Server-Side

Pros

• Mature Framework

  • Being a framework based on Ruby, RoR has a pretty extensive library that can be easily accessed by anyone.

• Speed and Development

  • Using the standard MVC design structure that most web framework follows in web page and application creation, handling files in RoR would be pretty straight forward to experienced developers with whom had previously experienced with the structure.

• Large Community

  • RoR has an active community, friendly and always ready to aid anyone who may need some help with their programs.

• Encourages Good Programming Practice

  • RoR has probably one of the slickest in terms of code organization around. This is done by removing unnecessary elements

Cons

• Steep Learning Curve

  • Being written in Ruby, not everyone would want or is capable of mastering the language, especially if you came from a different language background such as PHP or Java.

• Expensive Hosting

  • To run RoR smoothly you will need to either have VPS or a cloud-based server, this is required so that you will have full access to the server that a typical shared hosting just won’t be able to provide. It also consumes more resources compared to other frameworks making the need for an expansive hosting the more required.

• Not fully supported in Windows OS

  • unlike other frameworks such as PHP and Java, that uses the XAMPP environment when working locally, though a testing environment developed by then DevCon PH-President, Bryan Bibat is available here: RailsFTW

Laravel

Language used: PHP
Type of Render: Server Side

Pros

• Modular Approach

  • You can easily reuse the code you previously used anywhere on your server with a few tweaks and adjustments.

• Outstanding Command Line Interface (CLI)

  • For developers who love working through the CLI rather than GUI, Laravel offers a robust and feature-rich one, providing helpful tools to aid you in building web applications and such.

• Uses ORM

  • Using Object-Relational Mapping, it makes it faster to write your code in Laravel, it also makes it easier to update as ORM’s typically follows the DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) approach in programming, allowing you to update your codes in one place to take effect in all others when called.

• Well Documented

  • Though not as popular as other frameworks, Laravel still offers a rather outstanding library of resources you can find on the web, it is also very well written making it a staple framework for a lot of web and app developers today.

Cons

• Steep Learning Curve

  • Though not quite as hard to learn as other frameworks such as RoR, amateur developers might still have a few bumps to face while trying to understand the framework, especially when reverse routing is concerned.

• Small Community

  • Being rather new compared to other frameworks, Laravel has yet to build its’ community, though the community is increasing as time goes by.

• Quite Slow

  • The framework is still young and still has a lot of room for improvements, that being said deploying applications using Laravel may not be so advisable, especially true if you are inexperienced with the framework.

CodeIgniter

Language used: PHP
Type of Render: Server Side

Pros

• Easy to Learn

  • For amateur developers, CI is a safe framework to use as it provides simple setup of options.

• Awesomely Fast

  • Simplicity has its’ advantage, this is true with CI being written in an MVC design and requiring no compiler to set up working in CI provides a fast and almost lag-free experience.

• Amazingly Documented

• Small File Size

• Great Security

Cons

• Somewhat Outdated

  • Being around for over a decade now, CI has went through a lot of changes, but even so it was utterly crippled when the previous owner stagnated its update for a few years, though constant updates are still being done, this all to mostly fix a few bugs and such, some newer and modern PHP practices weren’t implemented.

• Not advisable for large projects

  • It’s great for personal projects or testing out applications, but may not be so good if used for deployment as stated above it’s a bit behind in the times.

Node.js

Language used: C, C++, Javascript 
Type of Render: Server & Client Side

Pros

• Easy to Learn

  • Being written mostly in JS, learning how to use Node.js is like breathing for an experienced web developer, and could easily be picked up by newbies while trying to understand JS.

• Awesomely Fast

  • Node integrates JS on both the client-side and server-side making whatever applications you build upon it to load at a rapid phase.

• Vibrant Community

  • Since the introduction of Node it has made a lot of developers wanting to step into the hype, this, in turn, started to increase the size of the community and is still increasing up to this day.

Cons

• Immature Tools

  • Although the core modules of node.js are quite stable a lot of its’ components in the NPM registry are of either poor quality or lack the proper documentation to maintain it.

• Being Open-Source

  • Now before you go crazy, being open-source is NOT a bad thing, in fact it’s an awesome movement that needs to keep going to add to that almost all frameworks are Open-Sourced, though this is true some major drawback to it, especially true in the maintenance of systems like Node, is the lack of standard in any of its’ updates, having multiple users adding codes to it might become a little tricky even with the supervision of major contributors.

• High Demand, Low Supply

  • Node.js is relatively new and despite it being written in JS, its’ functionality runs primarily on the server side and thus a lot of JS developers might not be so adept with using it as some might assume. This is a big impact on the field as the hype increases, so as the demand for Node.js developers, something that just not enough people are interested in pursuing yet.

Django

Language used: Python
Type of Render: Server Side

Pros

• Quite Fast

• Scalable

  • Able to handle a massive amount of traffics and mobile API usage by distributing it’s usage on all available processor in a server, reducing the costs of hosting in the process.

• Easy on Newbies

  • Python in its’ core is a relatively easy language to learn even for beginners, this is carried over unto Django with its’ simple syntax and integration.

• Properly Documented

Cons

• Monolithic Framework

  • Using the framework requires the developer to follow a strict pattern, the framework is unadvisable for users wanting more customization and flexibility.

• Might be a bit too heavy

  • Its’ dedication to being backward compatible has made future updates add up to its’ already large size. Another issue is that all functions and structures are always included so even if you will only use some of the components, by default these features, you may not need, will be carried over into your server adding more to the size and may cripple your server load time.

Asp.net

Language used: .Net Languages
Type of Render: Server Side

Pros

• Highly Scalable

• Vast Community and Great Support

  • Though not as large as other communities it makes up for it by providing excellent support from Microsoft, solving a varying range of issues quite effectively.

Cons

• Price Tag

  • One of the major drawbacks of ASP.net is that although some other frameworks may include some form of cost, if additional features are required, by default, all these frameworks are free to use. The cost from.Net doesn’t come from the framework itself though rather the environment that it requires to run in and as everyone already knows Microsoft™ can be quite pricey.

• Steep Learning Curve

  • ASP usually requires the use of the C#, a not so friendly language especially to beginners and might even bring complication to even the most experienced developers.

React.js

Language used: Javascript
Type of Render: Client Side

Pros

• Auto-Update of UI

  • The underlying codes that run all components in the library are automated so that it is automatically mirrored into the UI.

• Easy Debug

  • A debugging extension specifically crafted for ReactJS is available for browsers such a Chrome, making it easier for developers to locate whatever errors are present.

• Reusing of Codes

  • Incorporating the design approach, programmers using this framework could easily use and reuse different components within or even across different projects, making development more ergonomic and practical.

Cons

• Poor Documentation

  • New tools are constantly being released, some without being properly integrated into the current React library and most without the proper instructions that should be bundled for others to refer to, causing confusion for new users who may want to use the framework.

• High Pace Development

  • The development environment is always changing, sometimes even completely. The standards you may know from a few months ago will quickly be obsolete, some developers aren’t able to keep up with the pace and even give up, causing the framework a rather steep learning curve in the process.

Angular.js

Language used: Javascript
Type of Render: Client Side

Pros

• Enables Prototyping

  • By just using a few strings of codes, you can easily create an app demo with decent functionality.

• Fast Development

  • Compared to React and Backbone development in Angular is a bit easier, especially experienced JS users.

• Uses MVMM Architecture

  • In tone with frameworks using the Model-View-Controller and Model-View-ViewModel, Angular follows a similar approach, providing a strong foundation for application development. The data is separated from the design making even the most complex of applications easier to manage.

Cons

• Poor Documentation

  • Though the development and maintenance are not as rapid compared to React.js, the framework still suffers a lack of proper organization, with libraries missing instructions causing new users who may want use the components to test it out themselves first before implementing.

• Steep Learning Curve

  • Due to being relatively new, not enough documents are available for new users who may want to try out the framework themselves, though the community is constantly increasing.

Symfony

Language used: PHP
Type of Render: Server Side

Pros

• Flexible in setting projects

• Awesomely Fast

• Components can Be Extended

Cons

• Incomplete Documentation

• Complex Security Set-up

• Steep Learning Curve

Yii Framework

Language used: PHP
Type of Render: Server Side

Pros

• Robust design capability

• Light-weight Codes

• Great security and extensions

• Easy Framework to Learn

  • If you have experience w/ similar MVC architecture frameworks, such as Laravel, CodeIgniter and the likes, development in Yii would almost be second nature.

Cons

• Small Community

  • Not enough experts to help out newbies compared to other more mainstream frameworks.

• Not Enough Documentation

  • Having a rather limited community causes the framework to be unsupervised and most changes are only kept to the developer who uses the codes and unshared to the public.

Foreword

All mentioned platforms on their own aspects are remarkable and all share certain common features. Choosing what framework to use rely entirely on the developer’s preference and type of need as no one framework is perfect and would, to a degree, have their own faults. As always testing out and doing a little personal research is required to know for sure which is one is best for you.

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