As we near the end of an unpredictable year, it may be too soon to forecast the trends that will rule 2023. Typically, we look back at the impactful trends of the present year before presuming what could be prevalent in the following year. Nonetheless, it is prudent to constantly monitor the trends in frontend web development.
Given the fast-paced evolution of frontend web development trends, it is imperative that web development teams stay current. Therefore, I am of the opinion that conducting research to gain a comprehensive understanding of current trends, as well as those that will dominate until the end of 2023, would be advantageous.
The Emergence of Gatsby
Numerous businesses now prefer to use SPAs (Single-Page Applications) as they offer customers a more efficient and user-friendly experience. SPAs are renowned for their speed and ease of development, as well as their user-friendly interface. However, they do not work well for SEO (Search Engine Optimization), since the presence of a JavaScript layer can make it difficult for search engines to access and index the data.
Using Gatsby, web developers have discovered an effective strategy to optimize SEO for SPAs. Gatsby is a web development framework that brings together React, GraphQL, and Webpack to create static webpages. For those who are not familiar with Gatsby, it is an essential SEO tool. By incorporating Gatsby, web developers from Works have witnessed remarkable improvements in their SPA’s functionality.
To resolve the wrapping issue, it would be advantageous for Gatsby to have pre-rendering capabilities. This would enable Gatsby to bypass server-side rendering during requests. If you are using a single-page application (SPA), web crawlers might not be able to access the application programming interface (API), but they will be able to retrieve a fully rendered HTML version of the website that is stored on the server, which should simplify the crawling process.
With its uncomplicated and effective approach to a longstanding problem, Gatsby is gaining popularity among web developers. Its ease of use and wide availability make it an ideal option for those seeking to develop high-performance websites.
Micro-Frontend Architecture: Increasingly Prevalent
Micro-frontend architecture is increasingly being acknowledged as a successful strategy for developing the front end of websites and other web-based projects. The evidence supports this; major companies such as Spotify, IKEA, American Express, and Starbucks have already adopted this architecture. It seems probable that other businesses will do the same.
Due to its numerous advantages, micro-frontend design has regained attention. As it segmentizes the frontend into smaller, autonomous components, this design provides benefits such as simplified development and maintenance.
By drawing on the principles of microservices, this architecture provides increased flexibility, development ease, and superior coordination among developers. This results in benefits for web development teams such as a minimized codebase, more scalable projects, and independent deployment, ultimately reducing the time and effort required to manage large or intricate components.
Jamstack Asserts Its Dominance
In 2023, Jamstack was the talk of the town for good reason. It provided the foundation for contemporary web development architecture by combining client-side JavaScript, reusable APIs, and pre-built markup. This led to a significant reduction in the complexity of the development process, resulting in greater productivity and lower operational costs.
Jamstack has experienced significant growth in recent years and remains a top choice among the engineers of web development teams. The use of a CDN to deliver pre-built markup and assets results in improved speed and security for users, while enabling a smoother experience for developers, particularly frontend engineers, who no longer have to deal with the complications of a monolithic design.
Jamstack’s cost-effectiveness, scalability, and ease of use are all contributing to its growing popularity among developers. The use of a Content Delivery Network (CDN) enables Jamstack applications to adapt to fluctuating demand automatically, while the hosting of static files keeps costs manageable. As a result, it is no surprise that Jamstack is gaining momentum.
React Emerges as the Leading Front Runner
By 2023, it had become evident that React was one of the most prominent JavaScript libraries and frameworks. The Stack Overflow Developer Survey showed that React’s popularity continues to rise, with 40% of surveyed developers stating that they use it, making it the most widely adopted web framework, and surpassing jQuery, which was the most popular previously.
According to a recent survey, a quarter of developers are keen to learn React, highlighting the rising popularity of this framework among web designers and coders. Those who have worked with React previously can testify to its benefits; the framework simplifies the process of creating intricate web applications.
The figures are very impressive, indicating that React’s popularity will undoubtedly go up throughout the remainder of 2023 and into 2024. It appears to be highly probable.
JavaScript Remains the Most Critical Programming Language.
According to the 2023 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, JavaScript is again the most frequently used language among developers, with 64.96% of them using it daily. This marks the ninth consecutive year that the scripting language has occupied the first position.
Stack Overflow notes that “for the majority of developers, web development is programming”. The prevalence and superiority of the language indicate that this will probably continue to be the situation until at least 2023.
Although Typescript’s popularity is increasing and Google is actively promoting Dart, it seems that JavaScript remains the preferred language for web development projects due to its versatility.
Stay Up-to-date with the Latest Trends
For a front-end developer, it is critical to be aware of the five trends discussed above as they are currently affecting the industry. While it is essential to keep track of these trends, it is not necessary to adopt them all immediately. Understanding them and determining which ones are beneficial and relevant to your work is crucial.
By the end of the year, there are bound to be numerous new advancements in front-end web development. To keep pace with these changes, it is necessary to keep an eye on them and assess whether they are worth implementing. This will help to ensure that you keep up with the rapidly changing field and do not fall behind.
