Now is a good time to take a look at the major trends of the past year in web technologies and JavaScript in particular, and try to make predictions about the future prospects of frontend development. Let’s also take a look at how the industry leaders in web development responded to the changing conditions during the year and what their plans are for the future.
JavaScript stays on top
Many web developers recognize that JavaScript has flaws and difficult parts. However, it is still the most used programming language. In a Stack Overflow 2020 survey, 69.7% of 47,184 professional developers surveyed favored JavaScript.
It is clear that JavaScript is not perfect. Still, it has a rich ecosystem of frameworks, libraries, and other useful tools, as well as a huge community of JS developers. On top of that, there’s a technical committee working on ways to improve JavaScript. It turns out that for the foreseeable future it will be almost impossible to displace JavaScript from the leading positions in web development. Although TypeScript is likely to come close and become an even more attractive alternative.
TypeScript continues to conquer new heights
TypeScript is often called an improved version of JavaScript, and with good reason. TypeScript takes all the strengths of JavaScript (because it is compiled into JS) and combines them with its own powerful features, such as static typing, module and interface support, and so on. In addition, TypeScript is easier to learn and easier to maintain and debug. Stack Overflow survey participants ranked Typescript (67.1%) as their favorite programming language right after Rust (86.1%).
According to the latest report from GitHub, JavaScript is also currently the most popular language. But the report also shows that TypeScript has grown rapidly in popularity in recent years.
JavaScript frameworks
We are already used to seeing React, Angular, and Vue.js among the leading JavaScript frameworks. The State of Frontend 2020 report revealed nothing new about the preferences of the more than 4,500 professional frontend developers surveyed.
But if you look at which frameworks they want to continue using or learning for their future projects, you’ll find a new name in the top three.
