Podcast Summary
Front-end frameworks popularity: React remains the most popular front-end framework, with a 3% increase in usage. Vue, Svelte, Angular, and Lit also saw growth, except for Angular which experienced a significant decrease.
According to the State of JS 2023 survey results, React continues to be the most popular front-end framework, with a 3% increase in usage. Other frameworks like Vue, Svelte, Angular, and Lit also saw growth, except for Angular which experienced a significant decrease in usage. This survey provides valuable insights into the current trends and preferences of the JavaScript community regarding the tools and technologies they use. Despite the biases in the data, it's interesting to see the increasing adoption of various front-end frameworks as developers continue to explore their options. Additionally, the discussion touched upon the importance of using tools like Sentry and Century to monitor and optimize code performance, ensuring a better user experience.
React complexity, competition: Despite React's popularity, its dominance and complexity have led to decreased positivity and increased usage of alternative frameworks like Svelte and Solid.
While React has seen widespread adoption since 2016, its positivity has decreased by 10% in the past two years. Meanwhile, frameworks like Svelte and Solid have seen increased positivity and usage. Front-end developers have identified React's dominance and excessive complexity as major pain points. Interestingly, the usage of meta-frameworks like Next.js has increased, but positivity and retention have decreased. These findings suggest that while React and Next.js are popular, developers may be experiencing challenges and dissatisfaction with their use.
Jamstack frameworks comparison: Despite the trend towards server-side rendering, the speaker has been doing more Jamstack work due to the pain points associated with Next.js and the appeal of easier-to-deploy frameworks like Svelte Kit and Astro.
Svelte Kit and Astro have seen significant positivity upticks in recent years, with Svelte Kit particularly gaining popularity. Astro, on the other hand, has seen a significant increase in usage since 2021. Gatsby's usage has remained standard but has gone down over the years. The speaker expresses surprise that he's been doing more "Jamstack" work than ever before, despite the trend towards server-side rendering (SSR) for SEO and SEO-heavy pages. He also laments the lack of attention given to lesser-known frameworks like Quick, Redwood, and Adonis. The speaker discusses the pain points associated with Next.js, including issues with the app router and caching, excessive complexity, and deployment challenges. He notes that many of these issues could be alleviated by using alternative frameworks that are easier to deploy and don't require as much mental overhead. He also touches on the appeal of frameworks that make all the choices for you, like Laravel, and how this can lead to lock-in and potential future costs. Overall, the speaker emphasizes the importance of considering all the options and not just choosing the most popular framework. He encourages developers to explore lesser-known frameworks like Quick, Redwood, and Adonis, which may offer better solutions to common pain points.
JavaScript hosting solutions: Next.js offers benefits like automatic code splitting and server-side rendering but requires more commitment. CloudFlare is popular for its simplicity. Webpack is common but faces challenges with configuration and performance. Rollup and Rolldown offer faster build times. Node.js and browser are dominant JavaScript runtimes.
While Next.js offers numerous benefits such as automatic code splitting, server-side rendering, and easy deployment, it also comes with the drawback of being less flexible and requiring more commitment compared to deploying a simple node app. CloudFlare has emerged as a popular hosting solution due to its simplicity and ease of use, even though it may not offer the same level of integration and versatility as Next.js. Webpack remains the most commonly used build tool, but projects like Rollup and Rollup's successor Rolldown are gaining traction as they offer faster build times and are built from scratch in Rust. Configuration and performance continue to be major pain points with Webpack, and the transition to ESM and away from CommonJS remains a challenge. The JavaScript runtime landscape is split between Node.js (used by 94% of respondents) and the browser (used by 83%), with smaller players like Bun and Deno making up only a fraction of the market. Overall, the landscape of JavaScript frameworks, build tools, and hosting solutions is constantly evolving, and developers must weigh the pros and cons of each option to make the best choice for their specific use case.
Backend runtimes comparison: Despite the hype around Bun, the speaker continues to use Express due to its middleware system and lack of significant performance issues, but expresses a desire to explore other options like Digital Ocean functions and Cloudflare workers.
While Bun has gained significant hype in the last year, the speaker hasn't fully committed to it due to the excellent features of other runtimes like Node.js and Dino. The speaker also expressed some confusion about the distinction between different runtimes and their relationship to JavaScript. The data presented in the discussion showed that Express remains the most popular backend framework, with 73% of respondents using it. The speaker shared reasons for their continued use of Express, including the difficulty of moving away from its middleware system and the fact that they don't experience significant performance issues with it. The speaker also expressed a desire to move away from Express due to the need to convert fetch requests to the Express format, which they find to be a pain point. The speaker also mentioned their interest in exploring digital ocean functions and their surprise at the similarity in usage between Cloudflare workers and Netlify. Overall, the discussion highlighted the challenges and considerations involved in choosing a backend runtime and framework, as well as the speaker's ongoing relationship with Express.
Programming languages and hosting services: Python is the most popular programming language with 44% usage, AWS is the leading hosting service with 47% usage, and JavaScript is the primary language for front-end development with 98% usage.
Python, Java, and C-sharp are the top three non-JavaScript programming languages used by developers, with Python leading at 44%. Java follows at 31%, and C-sharp is at 14%. Python's popularity can be attributed to its versatility and the prevalence of AI and machine learning projects. AWS is the most popular hosting service for selling, with 47% usage, followed closely by AWS's competitor, Azure, at 19%. TypeScript is the preferred choice for JavaScript development, with 32% usage, and 9% of respondents opting for 100% JavaScript. JavaScript is primarily used for front-end development, with 98% usage, but also for backend (67%), mobile (27%), and desktop app development (20%). The survey also revealed that Go and Rust are less popular than expected, with 5% and 3% usage, respectively. Heroku, which was once a popular choice for hosting, now ranks fifth with 25% usage, while newer hosting services like Fly.io, Render, and Railway are gaining popularity. The survey results demonstrate that the landscape of programming languages and hosting services continues to evolve, with Python, AWS, and TypeScript leading the way.
JavaScript trends: Developers are exploring new features like pipe operator, signals, and pattern matching, but lack of built-in types is identified as a top missing feature. Pipeline operator proposal is in a stagnant stage. Major sectors include programming, consulting, and e-commerce.
JavaScript developers continue to explore new features and improvements, particularly in the areas of desktop apps, TypeScript, standard library, and date management. During a conversation at JS Nation, the lack of built-in types in JavaScript was identified as a top missing feature. Other areas of interest included the pipe operator for easier data manipulation and the potential addition of signals and pattern matching. The pipeline operator proposal, however, seems to be in a stagnant stage. The industry sectors with the most respondents were programming and technical tools, consulting and services, and e-commerce and retail. These findings provide valuable insights into the current trends and priorities within the JavaScript development community. It's important to remember that the survey results represent the perspectives of those who chose to participate and not the industry as a whole.
JavaScript technologies and tools: Veet is the most adopted technology in JS, V is expected to have the highest retention next year, Bun has the most interest, and React is the most loved library.
During a recent discussion about the State of JS, the most adopted technology was identified as Veet, with the highest retention going to V next year. The technology with the most interest was Bun, and the most write-ins were for the term "quick." In the awards section, React was the most loved library, and V was the library with the highest proportion of positive opinions. The hosts also shared their "sick picks," including a USB-C rechargeable lighter and a monkey noodle toy. Overall, the conversation highlighted the continued popularity of various JavaScript technologies and tools.
Simple pleasures, everyday joys: Finding joy in everyday life, no matter how small, can lead to greater happiness. Examples include playing with a stress ball or getting a long-overdue dental procedure.
The speakers on this podcast episode, Scott and CJ, shared their experiences of finding simple pleasures in everyday life, whether it's playing with a stress ball or getting a long-overdue dental procedure. Scott shared his love for the Grab a Monkey Noodle stress ball, mentioning how he's been playing with it throughout the episode. He also mentioned his ADHD tendencies and how the audience has noticed his restlessness during their video recordings. CJ chimed in, sharing his own experience of chipping his front teeth on a hard pita chip and getting them fixed after eight years. They also took the opportunity to promote their merchandise store, Sentry Shop and Syntax.fm, where they sell various items like T-shirts, skate decks, basketballs, and koosies. They mentioned that they've sold out of some items, including Yetis, but have new merchandise on the way. Overall, the episode showcases the importance of finding joy in the little things and the excitement of new merchandise.