Best Frameworks For Building Progressive Web Apps

Companies are rapidly adapting to the coming up technological changes. Among the tardiest technologies, smartphones have also become advanced. One such technology inside phone and web app development is the progressive web app framework.

According to a report by Statista, currently, there are 3.3 billion mobile phone users worldwide. This figure is projected to reach around 3.8 billion in the coming years.
Ever as smartphones evolved into existence and websites grew in popularity, merging the two to make an unprecedented experience for customers has been challenging for the developer community.

What is PWA?

PWA is the product of a single cross-platform software development strategy that utilizes a mobile browser to deliver web pages installed on your device. It is a cross between a native app and a mobile website that provides an app-like user interface utilizing standard web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. PWAs, unlike native apps, have a quicker loading time, can be used offline, and can be detected by search engines.

Best Progressive Web App Frameworks For Your Next Project

The key and initial step in building Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) are deciding which web framework to employ. Since there are many options available, it is advisable to determine the pros and cons of each PWA framework before choosing the most suitable one.
Mentioned below are some of the best progressive web apps frameworks:

ReactJS

React progressive web app is a popular selection among developers for its great JavaScript library. Progressive web app development framework can make both single-page, and multi-page apps also assure content load and turn into a single page. It uses JSX to render functions to add HTML structures, hence forming a React PWA app solution.Pros

Pros

• Utilizing diverse JavaScript libraries, the progressive web app development framework allows the creation of API interaction, server-side and statically rendered pages, and routing.
• React-driven PWAs have high elasticity and are scalable with extra packages.
• The rendering procedure is faster due to the virtual DOM.

Cons

• The framework helps build scalable and flexible apps.
• React PWA solution requires knowledge of JSX in addition to JavaScript.
• Implementation is difficult due to the scarcity of a clearly defined methodology.

AngularJS

Angular is by far the most common framework for progressive web apps. Structures use JavaScript to build responsive, secure, and robust apps.
Newly, Angular 12 has been launched in the market. It has some great features used in the development, like support for TypeScript 4.2, CLI workflow improvements, dynamic imports for slow routes, and differential loading.

Pros

• Google keeps the code, which assures smooth operation and support.
• Implementation is simple due to the availability of precisely defined methodologies.
• The contribution of the CLI has shortened the learning curve of the framework.

Cons

• You require to learn TypeScript to utilize the framework.
• It isn't elementary.

VueJS

Vue is an open-source front-end JavaScript framework distributed under the MIT license. Mostly community-driven, Vue is simple to get started. You can streamline the development procedure with traits like high-speed rendering, routing, and simple coding for openers.

Pros

• Vue allows rapid product delivery that's excellent for creating MVPs and smaller solutions.
  
• Like React, one can utilize new packages to enhance the app using Vue JS.
• It provides the potential for complex and dynamic applications.
• This clear and accurate documentation is highly appreciated in the developer community.

Cons

• Progressive web app frameworks cause problems when used with the advantage of flexibility.
• This structure is not owned by a company but by an individual. Therefore, the support team is also tiny.

Ionic

It is an open-source framework with its foundation on Angular Framework and Apache Cordova. So far, the framework has been applied to build over 5 million hybrid apps.
It has a library of components for both Android and iOS. Ionic enables the developers to build web pages that operate the device's browser by utilizing WebView, which essentially proffers web pages that follow a native app.

Pros

• It is simple to manage with the help of debugging tools and built-in browser tools.
• Since it's open-source, you don't require to buy Ionic. It also has low app development costs, making it a suitable choice for small businesses.
• Ionic has a vast library of plugins to access the API, which does not need any coding.

Cons

• Regular updates require changes in the current PWAs to show those changes. This can convert cumbersome over time.

Polymer

Developed by Google, Polymer is an open-source web app framework. Combining a variety of templates, PWA tools, and web elements, it utilizes JS, HTML, and JSS, making it an autonomous framework.

Pros

• It comes with great documentation, which explains the implementation process.
• The API is relatively simple to learn.
• Polymer allows full web app stack support, including data tier, responsive layout, and routing.

Cons

• Polymer lacks Office IDE.
• It has a high reloading time
• A framework is not SEO friendly

Conclusion

The importance of progressive web apps in this day and age is undeniable, so ensure that you select the right one for your company in terms of scale, presence of interactive components, planned scalability, and complexity.