In May 2023, Stack Overflow conducted its annual Developer Survey to learn what tools developers are using, how they are learning them, and what their opinions are. Over 90,000 developers participated in the survey, 71% being developers by profession.

According to the survey, JavaScript remains the most commonly used language for the 11th year now. The survey also highlights which of the many available JavaScript frameworks are the most popular. Hopefully, it can provide insights into the JavaScript trends to expect in 2023.

JavaScript Is the Most Popular Programming Language

The latest developer survey results by Stack Overflow indicate that JavaScript is the most popular programming language. Over 65% of professional developers stated that they use it extensively for development. It's also one of the most used languages on GitHub.

Alongside HTML and CSS, JavaScript is one of the core technologies used on the web. It's also used in other development environments like backend development with Node.js, mobile development with frameworks like React Native and Ionic, as well as in game development with JavaScript engines like Phaser.

Additionally, JavaScript is used in desktop development with frameworks like Electron. Its increasing adoption can be attributed to its ease of learning, implementation, and strong support from the developer community.

Most Popular JavaScript Frameworks

Below are the five most popular JavaScript frameworks in 2023.

1. Node.js

Node.js is the most popular JavaScript framework. It's used by 42% of all respondents and is used fairly equally by professional developers and those learning to code.

Its event-driven, non-blocking I/O model allows for high-performance, concurrent operations, making it ideal for building real-time applications, streaming services, and data-intensive systems. These features have contributed to its popularity.

Some of the companies that use Node.js include Netflix, LinkedIn, Uber, and Trello.

2. React.js

React is the second most popular JavaScript framework, with 40.58% of all Stack Overflow survey respondents saying they use it extensively. Among professional developers, React ranks first above Node.js in terms of popularity. As of June 2023, there are nearly 12 million sites built with React, as reported by BuiltWith statistics.

React is an open-source JavaScript library developed by Facebook and used to build highly responsive user interfaces. It is declarative and component-based, meaning you can reuse components to create complex UIs in a short time.

React is easier to learn and use for new developers than other frameworks like Angular, which is strongly opinionated. It has extensive documentation, guides, and a growing community that reduces the learning curve.

React is constantly evolving and has short development cycles. It is, therefore, hard to keep up as developers have to keep relearning the new features, and sometimes the documentation is not updated fast enough.

Examples of large websites built with React are Airbnb, Dropbox, Asana, and BBC.

3. jQuery

jQuery is the third most popular web framework. It is an open-source JavaScript library that you can use to simplify interaction with the DOM (Document Object Model). It helps you navigate the DOM tree easily. It's important to note that the survey shows, most jQuery users, want to use React or Node.js next year.

jQuery is easy to learn and has been around since 2006, therefore, it has a large developer community. However, jQuery cannot compare with modern web frameworks offering advanced features. It is useful for simple applications but can lead to a large codebase that is hard to maintain if used to develop big applications.

4. Express

Express is the fourth most popular JavaScript framework after jQuery. It is a minimal and fast JavaScript framework for backend development. You can use it with Node.js, a JavaScript runtime, to create efficient web applications.

Express provides an easy way to manage routing, set up middleware packages, and integrate plugins in your server-side code. With Express, you can create RESTful APIs to integrate with other apps and dynamically serve static HTML files to the web.

Examples of companies using Express in the codebase are Twitter, Intuit, and Accenture.

5. Angular

Angular is the fifth most popular JavaScript framework. It is an open-source framework launched by Google in 2016. You can use it on the frontend or backend to create dynamic Single Page Apps (SPAs) and Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) with faster page loads.

Angular offers features such as two-way data binding, which enables real-time synchronization between the model and view, has built-in dependency injection, and supports TypeScript. However, learning Angular is more challenging for beginners than React because it has a steeper learning curve. Because of this, only 13% of Stack Overflow survey respondents desire to use Angular.

Examples of websites created with Angular are Freelancer, IBM, and PayPal.

Svelte Was the Most Admired JavaScript Framework

Notably, Svelte was in the top position as the most admired JavaScript framework with 74.50% of the respondents who've used it saying they would use it again. It surpassed Next.js, another popular choice in the market. It has 68.3k stars on GitHub and 546k+ weekly npm downloads as of June 2023.

Svelte is faster than React and other dominant frameworks like Angular and Vue.js. It compiles code into pure Vanilla JavaScript, and you don't have to ship the overhead framework code. As a result, the initial JavaScript bundle is condensed, and pages load fast. This is perhaps the biggest differentiator between the frameworks available today.

Examples of companies using Svelte for their websites are The New York Times, Nesta, and Rakuten.

AngularJS Was the Least Desired Web Framework

AngularJS remained the least desired framework. Only 4% of respondents would like to use it. This may be because Google discontinued AngularJS long-term support in December 2021, having provided it for over three years. If you are using AngularJS in your application, you will need to migrate to Angular or another framework. Otherwise, your application may suffer from bugs or security holes due to a lack of updates.

Choosing a JavaScript Framework

With the ever-growing list of JavaScript frameworks, selecting the right one for your project can be challenging. While considering your project requirements is crucial, it's also important to take into account the popularity of the JS framework. Popularity plays a significant role as it often indicates a large community, abundant resources, and ongoing maintenance of the framework.