List of frontend technologies every developer should know in 2023

It's now 2023, and looking back at the previous year, some of us had a chance to adapt to the changes that came our way while others struggled to keep up. However, as we move forward, it's crucial to stay on top of the latest technologies and tools in the field. If you're a developer, it's high time to make sure you're up to speed with the tried and tested frontend technologies that should already be part of your work routine. So, here's a list of frontend technologies every developer should master in 2023.

Not every tool on our list is a new one. Better yet, some of them have been regular guests of similar articles for quite some time now. But it doesn’t make them any less worthy of our attention. Perhaps, you, our dear reader, are a novice and want to know where to start in your front-end development journey. If you’re a seasoned pro or have your own front-end development company, this piece will also be helpful in case you want to refresh your knowledge on what is still considered cool and relevant in the industry.

So, as a sneak peek, here are the popular front-end technologies we’re going to cover today - an inseparable base trio of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, integral to web development in general, as well as valuable tools and frameworks like React, Flutter, Angular, Tailwind, Next, Svelte, Gatsby, and Vue.

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Top front end technologies

As you may know, for front end developers, tools are everything. So, which ones to choose that would simplify your job to the maximum? Here’s our team’s answer to your question - a top ten front-end technologies we think you should definitely try, in no particular order.

JavaScript

JavaScript is still highly relevant in 2023 and continues to be a staple of modern web development. It is still used extensively to turn static websites into dynamic ones, and a variety of frameworks and libraries are available to enhance its functionality. For example, thanks to a few crucial frameworks, JavaScript can be used on either the front-end or back-end.

However, even though the language is considered a frontend basis, no one uses pure JS, and a myriad of libraries usually accompany it. On the client side, the language is used to add animations and interactive elements; on the server side, it enables access to databases and systems.

Key features: lightweight, interpreter based, includes both object-oriented and functional programming support, case-sensitive formatting, event handling, and control statements.

Use cases: web page dynamic support, backend data processing, web and mobile applications, browser games, data visualization tools, VR solutions, web services, etc.

HTML and CSS

We have grouped HTML and CSS into one spot because they, along with JavaScript, comprise a web development foundation, being layered on top of each other. HTML (HyperText Markup Language) serves as its core, helping you create a basis for your future website or a “markup.”

The structure is then covered by CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and its styling rules, adding fonts and colors, as well as making your website or application responsive and more interactive with various animations, before JS comes in and adds a finishing touch.

Overall, the use of HTML and CSS is still quite widespread and essential for anyone looking to create web pages or web applications in 2023.

Key features: CSS - adding colors, font styles, spacing, item sizing, layout designs, screen adjustments; HTML - semantic structure using content tags, search engine optimization, data storing on the client-side, cache API, and service workers.

Use cases: both are used for building web pages, while HTML also supports the creation of progressive web applications (PWA).

React

Would any modern frontend tool list be complete without React? We don’t think so. Not in the foreseeable future anyway. So, React is an open-source component-based library built on top of JavaScript and used to streamline the process of building scalable user interfaces and related components.

Considered one of the best and fastest JavaScript frameworks, React brings a new level of speedy coding into your workflow, also luring developers with its easy-to-learn syntax, flexibility, numerous customization options, and impressive control over created components.

Key features: virtual DOM for faster rendering, JSX (which translates to JavaScript XML - a markup syntax for writing HTML), one-way data binding for better control over the data flow, and declarative UI for a more readable code.

Use cases: creating web pages and web applications (single-page mostly) by introducing new syntax yet keeping the old JavaScript as a base.

Tailwind

One of the lesser-known names on our list, Tailwind, is a utility-first lightweight CSS framework with high levels of customization made to rapidly create custom user interfaces, as well as build and change styles straight in the HTML markup by adding classes to specific elements.

Utility-first means the framework doesn’t have heady-made classes. Instead, it uses the utility-based ones with much less control over them. The utilities come with a set of pre-defined options to quickly integrate the existing classes into the HTML code.

Key features: constraint-based for element consistency, such as colors, spacing, shadows, typography, low-level building and design process, state variants, high performance, and mobile-first responsiveness approach.

Use cases: custom interfaces thanks to bringing any component, however tiny, together and also building any design directly in the markup, while minimum code is needed.

Angular

Another popular addition to our top front end web tools is Angular.js - a TypeScript-based open-source platform created by Google over a decade ago. Similar to React, it is used to create interfaces, but the main difference is how it handles changes in the code. Thanks to its model-view synchronization, developers working with Angular can monitor their changes in real-time.

Usually, Angular is most useful when building mobile applications and web apps, handling both single-page and multi-page ones. However, one of the main downsides of this framework is that it has a steep learning curve due to its complexity.

Although other frameworks like React and Vue have been gaining popularity in recent years, Angular still remains a viable option for building web and mobile applications.

Key features: component-based approach, two-way binding for application augmenting, directives, dependency injectors for separating interdependent components and their later reusability.

Use cases: Progressive web applications, enterprise-based web applications, apps with lots of dynamic content, and software modernization projects.

Flutter

Another tool on our list with Google origin, Flutter, is still a relevant and widely used cross-platform framework for developing native-like applications. Its unique features, such as the singular codebase and multi-platform nature, allow developers to build and maintain cross-platform applications with ease.

Flutter's performance is on par with native applications, and it has a vast library of customizable widgets and Google Firebase support, which further enhances its utility.

Key features: cross-platform development, a vast library of customizable widgets for specific designs, Stateful Hot Reload for rapid development, native performance, and Google Firebase support.

Use cases: native-like cross-platform applications.

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Vue

Vue.js is a lightweight and easy-to-learn solution for frontend development that, despite being less complex than other frameworks in our list, especially Angular, still puts forth many useful features. For example, it has numerous internal components and also an imposed code structure. The developers of this framework aimed to combine some of the best practices other frontend frameworks have to offer.

Vue proves to be an extremely versatile front-end platform thanks to its structure, customization options, and simple syntax, and the technology has the potential to gain even more popularity among more prominent companies.

Key features: two-way data binding, component-based programming, virtual DOM (Document Object Model), composition API, great TypeScript support, and routing components so you won’t need to search for third-party libraries.

Use cases: dynamic web apps, web application projects of any size - from smaller products to corporate-sized apps.

Next

Next.js is a single-command toolchain and React framework based on Node.js and Babel created for static site generation support on the client-side and a server-side rendering as well. The framework has its own page-based routing system with the backing for dynamic API routes, which means it provides the routing itself. No need to worry about writing a code for that.

Next.js is a technology known for its simplistic installation process since it doesn’t require any additional environment configuration, to begin with. It’s also one of the more easy-to-learn tools on our list, as well as reasonably fast, lightweight, and customizable.

Key features: both client-side and server-side rendering, hot code reloading (the page gets reloaded after a change is saved), single file components, automatic code splitting, Typescript support, pre-rendering, and SEO-friendliness.

Use cases: landing pages, big eCommerce websites and applications, web portals, and extensive multi-user websites.

Gatsby

Gatsby.js is yet another popular addition to our frontend tech list that’s become all the rage lately. It’s an open-source React-leveraging static site generator and a JAMStack (JavaScript + APIs + Markup) framework, which ultimately means a front-end architecture that helps build websites and web apps with higher performance and scalability.

However, despite being called static, in terms of performance, this technology still offers dynamic and interactive features, along with a cloud platform for setting about a fast edge network. Gatsby is great to use if you want to optimize certain aspects of your website - for example, delivery or payload.

Key features: simple learning process and quick adoption, quick and smooth app development process, the ability to load data from anywhere thanks to a so-called “content mesh,” and high performance thanks to asset pre-loading.

Use cases: mainly JAMStack static single-page or multi-page websites and web products that load dynamically and need extra functionality.

Svelte

And last but not least, Svelte - one of the more trending frontend technologies on our list and deservedly so. Despite being a more recent addition, Svelte has proven itself as a very easy-to-use tool, ideal for beginners due to its lesser load on the browser, resulting in quicker development.

Svelte's feature-focused architecture is based on components, which are self-contained pieces of code that can be easily reused across projects. This makes it easy to build complex UIs while keeping the code organized and maintainable.

Built initially as a compiler, Svelte requires less coding to make responsive and scalable web applications than other frameworks. Where other frameworks use virtual DOM, Svelte applies a JS virtual machine to streamline UI building. On the other hand, a few drawbacks of this technology include limited documentation, a small ecosystem, and a short supply of tools.

Key features: simple syntax, SEO-friendliness, utilizes current JS libraries for simple framework rendering, feature-focussed architecture,

Use cases: small and quick projects with a limited number of developers, some of whom can be beginners in the craft.

Summary

For many of our fellow developers, technology marked with “tested and proven” is the way to go. Indeed, there are numerous different types of tools emerging each year, and so little time to try them all.

That’s where articles like this one come in handy. They give you an overview of what is currently trending and why, providing you with a list of verified problem-solvers for any front-end need.

Besides, if the new tool proves capable enough, it will eventually end up in some “top ten of year X,” and then you can safely test and integrate it into your work routine. Anyway, we hope you found our list useful. See you next time!