DEVOPSdigest

JavaScript frameworks have been at the forefront of web development's evolution. As they continue to evolve, staying ahead of the curve is crucial for developers and tech enthusiasts alike. The landscape is changing rapidly from the transition to client-only applications to the emergence of signals in frameworks like SolidJS. Today, we're on the brink of the next big shift. I believe the future of web development will focus on performance optimization, security, seamless collaboration between designers and developers and AI in ways we don't yet understand. Navigating these changes and understanding where the future of web development is heading is key.

JavaScript frameworks have been the boss of web development for over a decade and will remain so. Building websites is constantly evolving, from static pages (early 90s) to server side rendering (late 90s to mid 2000s) to server side rendering + jquery (mid 2000s to early 2010s), to client rendering first (early to mid 2010s) to headless CMS and full stack rendering (late 2010s). Frameworks supporting building websites and web applications are constantly adapting to new demands and innovations, with more innovations, regulations and demands introduced all the time.

Now, server-side rendering (SSR) is a growing demand. Websites need to be found and it requires SEO and social support. Google reverse engineers websites for search indexing. For SEO, websites reverse engineer how Google indexes them so they can appear at the top of search results. Performance is growing in demand, led by Google and Lighthouse requirements for high quality websites. Web standards are evolving, enabling us to do more with the web stack.

Over the years, new frameworks have emerged to support developers, yet, there isn't a one size fits all solution. For example,

■ React introduced reusable components with a huge ecosystem. However there is a problem with performance when using it for large applications.

■ Solid.JS & Signals: The emergence of signals in frameworks like SolidJS that creates a fully reactive system that updates only what has changed in the most efficient way. SolidJS philosophy is great performance out of the box with declarative syntax and great developer experience.

■ Qwik Javascript Streaming: Breaks code to very small pieces to stream to the client when needed, focusing on automatic optimizations. Qwik philosophy is why should developers even think about how to bundle, build and package? It should all be automatic.

Today's frameworks (including React, SolidJS and Qwik) still have that open the door to ask — what should we look for in the next generation of web frameworks? These demands from future frameworks include the below.

Micro-Frontend

Inspired by microservices who decouple risk of deployment and load, micro frontends aim to break large applications into smaller, independent components, each micro frontend is a self-contained application that can be developed, tested, and deployed independently. Today, we do not have a micro frontend solution that decouples risk to deployment of different application parts.

Security

Many applications are built using 3rd party components, extensions or plugins. Examples are VSCode Extensions, Figma Plugins, WordPress Plugins. Today we do not have any security platform to run 3rd party components, exposing the applications to vulnerabilities often exploited by attackers (VSCode, Wordpress) or requiring the application building very complex solutions (Figma). We believe there is demand for a heuristic solution for security of component systems.

Design 2 Code

Today designers, once done, are exporting assets or code fragments for developers to implement as the application. Developers have to understand the details of the design to implement it correctly, and then add their layers of logic and functionality to complete the application. Once a change is introduced, this process repeats and creates friction between the developer and the designer. I believe this problem is fundamental in how our frameworks are designed and require a major change. Future web frameworks will enable to solve this friction and allow developers to focus on the functionality and logic, while designers will focus on the design and layout.

Web Essentials

Web essentials are all of those things we have to build for a website to support modern regulations and expectations, such as great SEO support, Accessibility, Multilingual support, GDPR, PII, Cookies regulations, etc. The list of web essentials evolves and grows all the time, driving up website creation cost and the total cost of ownership. We believe that future web frameworks will address those needs to keep the cost under control.

GenAI

Throughout the years, even as innovation has reshaped the developer world, there's always been a constant. The web started on the Desktop. Then mobile web emerged, said to replace Desktop. Since, we have to build desktop web and mobile web. Then mobile apps emerged, said to replace Desktop web and Mobile web. Since, we have to build desktop web, mobile web and mobile app. Then Social emerged, said to replace web and apps. Since, we have to build desktop web, mobile web, mobile app and Social. Now, Conversational AI emerges and it's unknown what the impact will be. But one thing is clear — it will not replace any of the web channels we have today (website, mobile web, mobile apps and social) — it will join them, creating another web channel in a new and innovative way that will only improve the web.

I believe we have exciting times ahead of us, with many innovations in how we build for the web, new ideas, new products and new channels utilizing AI, among other ideas.