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This article is the second in our series based on the Stack Overflow Annual Developer Survey 2019. We’ve looked at the Most Popular Programming Languages for 2019 so far and will be releasing Most Popular Databases 201 9 and Most Popular Development Platforms 2019 over the next few weeks

We'll be looking at the most popular Frameworks, Libraries and Tools here - from which are the most used, the most loved, dreaded and wanted - to how the market is changing.

This year we are looking at a wider selection of frameworks than last year and the Web Frameworks have been separated out from the other frameworks to give a broader analysis. (nb. You’ll notice gaps in the charts below where the frameworks hadn’t been included in the survey the year before)

So why is the popularity of Frameworks, Libraries & Tools even important?

If you understand which Framework is loved and wanted by other developers it can help you ascertain which you should be learning and which might be right for you and your team. Learning more than one framework can also be of huge benefit for your value in the job market for now and in the future

Most used Web Frameworks ❤ Love 💔 Dread ★ Want 2019 2018 %Change 2019 2018 2019 2018 2019 2018 jQuery 48% 45% 55% 5% Angular 32% 38% -6% 58% 55% 43% 45% 12% 14% React.js 32% 28% 4% 75% 69% 26% 31% 22% 33% ASP.NET 27% 65% 35% 4% Express 20% 68% 32% 5% Spring 17% 18% -1% 66% 60% 34% 40% 4% 4% Vue.js 16% 74% 26% 16% Django 12% 13% -1% 62% 58% 38% 42% 8% 7% Flask 12% 61% 39% 4% Laravel 10% 60% 40% 3% Ruby on Rails 8% 57% 43% 4% Drupal 4% 30% 70% 1%

Web Frameworks, Libraries & Tools

JQuery is the most commonly used Web Framework currently - but React.js is still the one to watch - with more developers moving towards it than Angular and with much more loving, wanting to learn and far fewer dreading it than both Angular and JQuery.

Why is React.js becoming so popular?

It’s a lean and efficient library rather than a full framework and allows developers to pick and choose the elements they want

It’s loved and wanted by many, and only a small percentage dread it, whilst its usage has increased by 115% last year and again by 4% this year

React has been successful partly due to its open source contributions, frequent releases and the ease with which server-side rendering, progressive web apps and native apps can all be done.

This year React Hooks have been added which should make building React components easier and Suspense for Data Fetching and Concurrent Mode are coming soon.

The React community has created a diverse ecosystem where there is huge flexibility on how you architect React applications and adapt it to suit your business. This flexibility can be hard for new users however but allows React to be used for all manner of unexpected non front-end work such as IoT and AR/VR and is not all about the web anymore

Other Frameworks, Libraries & Tools ❤ Love 💔 Dread ★ Want 2019 2018 %Change 2019 2018 2019 2018 2019 2018 Node.js 50% 50% 72% 28% 18% .NET 38% 61% 39% 4% .NET Core 25% 27% -2% 77% 66% 23% 34% 9% 9% Pandas 12% 75% 25% 4% React Native 11% 63% 38% 13% Ansible 10% 62% 38% 4% TensorFlow 9% 8% 1%

73% 74% 27% 27% 16% 16% Unity 3D 9% 61% 39% 9% Cordova 7% 9% -2% 37% 40% 63% 60% 2% 3% Xamarin 7% 7% - 48% 49% 52% 51% 5% 6% Spark 6% 5% 1% 64% 66% 37% 34% 5% 5% Hadoop 5% 5% - 53% 54% 47% 46% 6% 6% Flutter 3% 75% 25% 7% Torch 3% 2% 1% 77% 68% 23% 32% 6% 5% Puppet 3% 38% 62% 2% Chef 3% 33% 67% 2% Unreal Engine 3% 60% 41% 6% Cry Engine 1% 43% 57% 1%

Other Frameworks, Libraries and Tools

There are lots of new technologies in this table but Node.js still retains its popularity at the top. .Net appears to be more used than .Net Core and if we're looking at the deeper learning frameworks it seems that TensorFlow is the winner for 2019

Why is Node.js so popular?

Companies of all sizes from LinkedIn, Netflix, PayPal and Uber to small start-ups use Node.js because it is robust, fast, easy to use and learn, and offers great performance.

Its unmatched scalability for websites and web applications is the same across all of the JavaScript frameworks - which are also compatible with Node.js - making this combination the ultimate must-have for developing any product or website. Hence Node.js is mainly used for developing APIs, backend services, Web apps, microservices and websites.

Node.js has regular releases which keep its big customers happy as it is always on track - but not everything in the garden is rosy. Keeping up with security patches has become harder and increasingly vital for cloud service providers. Many developers also appear to face performance and security problems in production (especially with Asynchronous Programming).

Node.js’ NPM is also key to its popularity with the largest and ever growing repository of Open Source libraries compared to any other language.

(What does NPM stand for? Most think it stands for Node Package Manager – however many argue that that is incorrect. It’s probably not Norwegian Peat Moss, No Paddling Module, Newlywed Party Monsters or any of the other answers you get when you look at the NPM website to check! www.npmjs.co )

And what about .NET?

.Net has remained relevant and useful as the tech landscape has changed. Its open source nature is key alongside its ability to be language neutral and work with pretty much every environment that exists now and probably most of those in the future too.

If you’re using cloud technologies .NET is safe - because the code is closed and compiled - whilst allowing you to support and interface with a wide range of systems. It is seen as a reliable framework now by corporations supporting windows, building and deploying server, desktop and mobile apps

Which framework is best?

It isn't really about which framework is the most popular or hottest but which can tackle your problems best. The industry that you work in also makes a big difference coupled with the languages used. The chart below gives an indication as to which framework is likely to be used with which technology so that is probably as good a place to start as any when assessing which framework to use.

It'll be interesting to see the results from the Stack Overflow 2020 survey when there will be more data to compare on the Frameworks, Libraries and Tools - will React.js be the most popular Web Framework by then or will the landscape remain the same?