With many standard functionalities to help developers save time, programmers rely on JavaScript libraries. These fundamental assets help us create web pages using UI components, language utilities, math functions, and more. JavaScript is an integral part of any web application, and it is only necessary to have these libraries in hand as per your need to save development and testing time and have everything in one place.
That's why we evaluated so many JavaScript libraries. Our considerations included the primary purpose, module weight, and accessibility. Ready to see the results? Read on to discover our top JavaScript libraries.
Top 20 Javascript Libraries
Still new to the subject? If you want to learn how to use these JS Libraries, read about javascript courses and how to go about learning Javascript.
1. DOJO toolkit
The Dojo is an open-source JavaScript library that helps develop cross-platform, JS, and Ajax-based websites in a faster manner. DOJO has a vast set of APIs and modules. There are several parts in DOJO toolkit –
- dojo – consists of the core modules
- dijit – user interface module that helps in setting up layout and widgets
- Util – includes utilities and build tools for testing, style checking, and more.
- dojox – this additional toolkit of dojo helps with charting, grids, and DTL.
The modules in DOJO are independent and light-weight. They can be loaded asynchronously, which means a faster response. DOJO is simple to use and has a lot of community support and documentation.
2. jQuery
jQuery dramatically simplifies JS programming and is easy to learn and use. It is highly extensible and makes web pages load faster. jQuery wraps up a lot of standard functions making the job of the developer easy. A JS code of several lines could be just a method to be called in jQuery. It also has many plugins to perform different tasks.
Some of the features of jQuery are CSS manipulation, HTML/DOM manipulation, HTML events, animations and effects, utilities, and AJAX. The best part of jQuery is the way it handles browser compatibility issues without the developer worrying about it. Some of the major IT companies like Microsoft, Netflix, and Google use jQuery. It is effortless to include jQuery in web pages.
The syntax of jQuery is similar to CSS syntax, making it the easiest one to learn, even for beginners. Read the docs.
3. Google polymer
Created by Google, Polymer is a JS library that allows developers to reuse HTML elements and create custom elements using HTML, CSS, and JS to create more interactive applications. It is compatible with different platforms. Once you install Polymer using the command line interface or the Bower method, you can reuse already developed elements without worrying about how those were created. You can also build your custom elements using polyfills i.e., web component specifications.
The custom elements can be distributed across the network and used simply by importing the required HTML. To install and use Polymer, you should be familiar with node.js, npm, Bower, Git, and Polymer CLI.
Note that Polymer support has been depreciated.
4. JavaScript InfoVis toolkit
If you want to create Data visualizations that are interactive and easy to pull together, InfoVis is the way to go. The toolkits some of the most advanced visualizations like Hypertree, TreeMap, RGraph, and more apart from the usual Bar, Pie, Area, and more.
Using this toolkit is an enjoyable and useful experience. It can create beautiful color-coded graphics with the necessary input information. You can get loads of effects without doing any extra coding. You can download the visualizations that you want instead of the entire package, making it not so bulky on the web pages. Since this toolkit is for data visualization, you might think it is useful for data analysts; however, you need some coding experience to use it.
Want to get started? Here's the resource.
5. D3.js
D3 stands for Data-Driven Documents. With D3, you can apply data-driven transformations to DOM objects. The keyword with D3 is ‘data-driven,’ which means documents are manipulated depending on the data received. Data can be received in any format and bound with DOM objects. D3 is very fast and supports dynamic behavior for animation and interactions.
There are plenty of already-developed modules that give room for code reuse. D3 is flexible and exploits the full capabilities of HTML, SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics), and CSS. D3 code is easy to debug as it uses the browser’s built-in inspector to show the path.
Since D3 applies a declarative approach, it saves a developer many lines of code. D3.js is one of the most widely used JS toolkits as of now.
Here are the docs.
6. Pixi.js
Pixi js can create stunning digital content. This open-source, cross-platform 2D engine helps create games and interactive, animation-based websites. Disney is one of the many big names that use Pixi to create their digital content.
Pixi is a super-fast rendering engine and uses WebGL for its performance, however, when WebGL is not supported, HTML canvas is used. Pixi is sturdy and straightforward as it hides the functionality of some of the most complex functions into a simple, ready-to-use library. If you know Adobe Flash, Pixi is the easiest thing to learn next.
Here are the docs.
7. SWFObject
This simple yet powerful JS library is mainly used to embed flash SWF files in HTML documents. It supports only SWF files, and no other media types can be embedded using SWFObject. There are two options – dynamic publishing and static publishing to add the markups.
Many popular websites like Microsoft, YouTube, and more use SWFObject. To use this library, JS should be enabled on the user’s browser. SWFObject has many utility functions to do different tasks such as utilities to work with DOM or to identify if the latest version of the Flash player is installed.
Note that SWFObject is unmaintained.
8. Three.js
Cross-browser JS library and API that allows for the creation of beautiful animations, Three.js relies on WebGL rather than conventional browser plugins. Through its library utilities, developers can include complex 3D animations on their websites without much effort. Three.js include many features like geometry, lights, materials, shaders, effects, scenes, data loaders, animation, and much more. The library is a single js file.
Since the source code is hosted on the GitHub repository, there is a lot of support and documents available for Three.js. Here are the docs.
9. React js
React is easy to understand and uses the JS library to build user interfaces for web applications (front-view or model of MVC architecture). React is maintained by Facebook and a few other companies. React is declarative, efficient, and flexible enough to let developers build more complex UIs using the existing pieces of code, also known as components.
React is fast and scalable, hence any changes to applications do not need a page to reload. Here's a guide with the best React courses currently available.
10. Vue.js
Vue js is based on the Virtual DOM model, much like React, and has a component-based architecture. Using templates of Vue.js, apps can be created faster. Vue also requires fewer lines of code for the same task that would need more code with other libraries.
If you need a small application to be built in less time, Vue should be your perfect choice. By combining Vue with other tools and utilities, you can get a full-fledged framework. As a framework, Vue can handle complex functionalities like routing, build tooling, and state management.
Here are the docs.
11. WinJS
Developed by Microsoft, WinJS is an open-source JS library that helps in the secure development of Windows apps for Windows versions 8 & 10. Developers can load either the entire package or the individual modules that they need for their application.
WinJS has a broad set of APIs to perform simple and complex tasks, some of them having a standard implementation (not specific to Windows). WinJS gives high performance, and is a useful library to learn with a variety of controls and features.
Find more at GitHub.
12. PHP
As the name suggests, JsPHP is a Javascript library for PHP API to be available in the JS environment. It is open-source and provides a compelling interface for JS developers who work in PHP. JsPHP can work in tandem with other libraries in an application.
JsPHP supports PHP functions, including regular expressions, date-time evaluations, JSON, error handling, object manipulations, strings, XML, URL, and so on.
Read more about JavaScript for PHP at their site.
13. Socket.IO
A highly reliable library that allows for event-based two-way communication between the server and the browser window. It has a node.js server and a browser client library. It can detect disconnections and provides auto-connection support along with other significant features like binary support, channel support, and multiplexing support.
Here are the docs.
14. MathJAX
MathJAX, true to its name, is a cross-browser javascript library that can display math notations and uses markup like LaTeX, ASCIIMathML, and MathML. MathJAX beautifully represents maths in different browsers. It is totally accessible and reusable and produces HTML, CSS, SVG, or MathML output. It has a rich API. Since MathJAX doesn’t use bitmap images or flash, developers need not code anything.
Here are the docs.
15. Blockly
Blockly, a creation of Google, is a web-based visual programming editor. When added to the code, the library adds an editor to the app that represents code snippets like loops, expressions, variables, and more as blocks. The best part is that you can create custom code, and the output is syntactically correct in your choice of programming language. Blockly has no server-side dependencies; it is a totally client-side library. Blockly helps gain computer knowledge because of its drag-and-drop editor.
Read the docs.
16. Modernizr
Modernizr provides feature detection i.e., it tells you the JS, HTML, and CSS features that your browser has. This helps in knowing and avoiding unimplemented features. Whether a feature is present or not is detected by using a Boolean property against each feature to be tested. For example, if the browser supports WebSockets, the corresponding property ‘Modernizr.websockets’ is real. There are over 250 features that can be tested using this library.
17. Verge3D
Adding the Verge3D toolkit, developers can create beautiful 3D visualizations on websites, for example, puzzles, UI and website layouts, animation, AR/VR, and much more. Bringing out the artist in you onto the screen has become so easy as Verge3D is interactive, and you don’t have to be a pro at coding. Moreover, the toolkit uses realistic colors and PBR materials to give you the most exquisite 3D web experience. Verge3D uses WebGL for rendering. Verge3D has been used by NASA to create a 3D visual experience of the Mars Lander.
Here are the relevant docs.
18. Anime.js
One of the best animation libraries that makes staggering follow-through animations so simple, Anime.js is lightweight and comes with a clean yet powerful API. With Anime, timing plays an important role, and you can set various properties of CSS at different timings on the same element, and the element moves smoothly as per the transforms. Anime works with SVG, CSS, HTML, DOM, and JS objects.
To get started, read the docs.
19. Parsley
We spend much time in front-end form validations on websites that need users to fill in information. Parsley library makes this form of the validation process simple. It detects changes to the form data and adjusts the validations dynamically, giving the result almost instantly. All you have to do is write the form validation requirements in your HTML. Parsley has validators of different types that are UX-focused and can be customized. Parsley is free, open-source, and highly reliable.
Here are the docs.
20. QUnit
QUnit is a unit testing tool (rather framework) that can test any generic JavaScript code. Most jQuery projects use QUnit. QUnit has become essential as JS is now integral to any web project, and manual testing of so many functionalities is complicated and unreliable. Further, QUnit is powerful and easy to use. Unit tests written for one application can be reused for other applications across browsers.
Here's the API.
21. HTMX
One of the more recent additions, as of mid-2024, to our list of recommended JavaScript libraries is HTMX. It's known for similfying javascript and enhancing HTML functions. Specifically, you can use HTMX for access to CSS Transitions, AJAX, and WebSockets.
Interested? Read the docs.
Summary
As discussed above, each of the best javascript libraries serves a different purpose and can be used in combinations to achieve the best results. Overall, these are some outstanding libraries that can give a rich web experience to users. Check out our article on JavaScript frameworks, and you appreciate how the different pieces of code work together to produce magical websites.
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