As front-end design becomes more important to the success of an application, it becomes more necessary to work with the best front-end frameworks.

Finding the best framework to solve specific problems in a project can provide a better front-end design and user experience, helping brands and developers attract and retain more users.

Vue has become a popular and mature framework for developers using JavaScript. However, different projects require different solutions, and finding an alternative to Vue can move the project forward, improving speed, performance, and community.

In this article, we’ll compare Vue to Svelte, Riot, Hyperapp, and Alpine, new, lesser-known JavaScript frameworks that have developed a following and offer useful features.

A quick overview of vue.js

Vue is an open source JavaScript framework that uses the model-View-View model (MVVM) design pattern to represent three layers in a Vue application.

If you’re familiar with the popular model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern, Vue performs controller tasks by using the View-model layer.

In a Vue application, the model layer provides access to the data. The logic of moving data from the model to the view and vice versa is taken care of by the View model layer.

A Vue model might look like this.

Var model_data = {js_frameworks: [' Vue ', 'Svelte', 'Riot', 'Hyperapp', 'Alpine']};Copy the code

The View model layer uses two-way data binding to connect the view and model layers. In Vue, a viewmodel object can be instantiated, as shown below.

Var vm = new Vue({el: '#app', data: model_data});Copy the code

Note that the EL parameter uses the ID of the element to connect the viewmodel layer to any element in our view. In this case, we bind the Viewmodel layer to an element whose ID attribute value is app. The data parameters then connect the viewmodel layer to the model.

The view layer consists of the DOM and all of its elements and shows the user the data held by the model layer. The view corresponding to the model above and the view model layer looks like this.

< div id = "app" > < ul > < li v - for = "framework in js_frameworks" > {{framework}} < / li > < / ul > < / div >Copy the code

The ID of the outermost div above corresponds to the ID specified in the view model layer, providing access to the data in the model in our view. Using Vue’s syntax v-for, we create a for loop to loop through the data and display it as a list.

Now that we’re familiar with Vue and how it works, let’s compare it to some of the newer JavaScript frameworks.

Vue.js vs. Svelte

A common feature to consider when comparing frameworks is speed. You can see this in the case of Vue versus Svelte by looking at how each framework builds and runs an application by manipulating DOM.

Because Vue renders the application’s user interface through the virtual DOM, the enhanced copy makes it easier to manipulate. While this approach is fast, compiling at run time significantly slows down the loading process.

However, Svelte addresses this performance issue at build time. This JavaScript framework is known for its speed and performance. It comes with a compiler that converts Svelte framework code to Vanilla JavaScript when the build runs on the application.

When an application is built, all traces of Svelte are gone, leaving only Vanilla JavaScript. Also, because the browser understands JavaScript, there is no need to download a library, eliminating the time spent downloading.

Unlike Vue, Svelte directly modifies the DOM. Also, packages with only Vanilla JavaScript code are usually lighter than packages with libraries.

All of these aspects work together to improve overall performance.

While both Vue and Svelte have a straightforward syntax, Svelte requires slightly less code to implement different functions.

Compared to Vue, which uses the MVVM design pattern, Svelte also completely ditches the design pattern. Instead, Svelte creates wrapped components with all the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript on the same page.

<script>
  let name = "Samson";
</script>

<main>

  <input bind:value="{name}" />
  <p>My name is {name}.</p>

</main>

<style>
  p {
    color: red;
  }
</style>

Copy the code

In the JavaScript code above, we create a variable that holds a string. In HTML, an input field and a paragraph are connected by two-way data binding using the BIND attribute.

The code gives us a text box with the text that name holds. It also inserts text into the paragraph below the text box.

If we change the value in the text box, the value in name and the value in the insert paragraph will change. In our style, we make the color of the paragraph text red.

While some people like Svelte’s simple way of putting code, markup, and styles in one place, it can often be perceived as old-fashioned, and depending on the project, Vue’s modern MVVM design pattern may be more popular.

Vue really has the upper hand when it comes to community, user base and support. Because the Svelte ecosystem is still growing, its users don’t have the resources, open source tools, plug-ins, and community support that Vue developers enjoy.

Overall, both frameworks are considered easy to learn, well documented, and require only a basic knowledge of JavaScript to adopt.

However, compared to Vue, Svelte functions seamlessly, improves performance, takes less load time, has more memory space, and is lighter overall.

Vue.js vs. Riot.js

Riot. Js prides itself on being a lightweight and simple UI library that helps developers create elegant UIs for their applications in one go.

Much like React, users can create custom tags in Riot. This is one of the selling points of the library because developers can.

  • Create components like avatars, navigation bars, buttons, and cards with HTML and JavaScript
  • Wrap components in uniquely named elements to improve readability
  • Reuse these components indefinitely

Another benefit of using Riot is its size. It advertises itself as a minimalist framework that provides the bare minimum required to create a front-end project. Because the framework has fewer features than Vue, there’s less to learn and it loads faster in the browser.

Riot uses the Model-View-Presenter (MVP) pattern instead of the MVVM pattern used by Vue. Models and views work similarly to Vue’s models and views, but Instead of the Viewmodel layer, Riot uses a Presenter layer to transfer data from the model to the view and vice versa.

One major difference between Vue and Riot is that Vue uses the virtual DOM to render an application’s user interface, while Riot uses expression binding, similar to AngularJS. This means that every time a change is made to the code, it goes into the DOM tree and updates the nodes.

Expression binding is beneficial for small to medium sized applications, but can cause performance problems for large applications.

However, one big advantage Vue has over Riot is its community. Riot has yet to be widely adopted, while Vue has been adopted by more mainstream companies and developers.

Vue.js vs. Hyperapp

Hyperapp is an ultra-lightweight framework for creating application frontends. With a total size of about 1KB, it starts faster and requires less memory than Vue, an advantage that becomes apparent when applications run on low-end devices.

One similarity between these frameworks is that they all use a virtual DOM.

If you’re building a complex application, Vue’s powerful built-in features and community will serve you best. However, if you are looking for a framework that prioritizes simple apis, you should give Hyperapp a try.

Like React, Hyperapp supports JSX, allowing developers to create reusable components that can be used with other frameworks. Note that when using JSX in Hyperapp, you must use the compiler to convert JSX code into function calls because browsers cannot interpret JSX.

The simplicity of Hyperapp compared to Vue makes it easy to adopt. It encourages immutability and is less error-prone than the variability advocated by Vue.

Like the other frameworks we’ve seen so far, Hyperapp is not very popular. However, its small community is actively working to improve the framework. At the time of this writing, Hyperapp does not have a website, and its documentation is not as detailed as Vue’s. To learn more about how Hyperapp works, check out this simple tutorial developed by its creator.

Vue.js vs. Alpine.js

Using Alpine it’s easy to start building a project. No installation is required, you just need to include its library in your project to start using it.

<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/alpinejs/[email protected]/dist/alpine.min.js" defer></script>

Copy the code

There is no need for complex build tools, bundlers, and package managers.

While Vue also provides a CDN for developers, users cannot use single-file components. For larger Vue applications, it is recommended to install it through NPM.

Alpine’s big advantage is that it’s lightweight, making users less likely to experience any speed and performance issues. It was largely inspired by Tailwind CSS, as users could use classes to directly use JavaScript on HTML tags.

Alpine is also newer than jQuery, so its approach to DOM manipulation is more modern. Unlike Vue’s virtual DOM, Alpine can modify the real DOM directly when building an application.

In terms of syntax, Alpine is very similar to Vue — a deliberate move by founder Caleb Porzio. This syntax comes with 14 instructions for sprinkling JavaScript into HTML.

x-data
x-init
x-show
x-bind
x-on
x-if
x-for
x-model
x-text
x-html
x-ref
x-transition
x-spread
x-cloak

Copy the code

See this guide to learn how to use these Alpine directives.

Alpine is perfect for projects that are too onerous for Vue, such as simple applications that require only a few features.

conclusion

We’ve taken a closer look at some of the new JavaScript frameworks that are growing rapidly and could one day offer strong competition to mature frameworks like Vue.

It is important to note that this article is not written to introduce you to any framework that is better than Vue, but rather to introduce you to some lesser-known frameworks that may meet different needs, such as lightness and simplicity.

Take a look at these new frameworks and try them out on subsequent projects to see the advantages they bring first hand.

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