Once you've mastered the syntax of a programming language, you are ready to use the language to create more complicated and valuable applications. After all, a language is a set of variable types and rules as well as a handful of prebuilt functions and flow controls. Sure, you can build apps from these basic building blocks, but there are better tools to get your app built and deployed quickly. This is where programming frameworks come in.
What is a Programming Framework?
A programming framework is a collection of code that provides a template for building a specific type of application. You can think of a programming framework being to a developer what a notebook is to a writer. A notebook is a tool specifically made to be written that removes the need for harvesting wood and refining it to the exact form of a notebook a writer can use to complete their work.
Programming frameworks act as this final good which allows you to develop your business logic and application code without worrying about the underlying functionality of the app. With it, you can bypass many tasks that are either unimportant to your product or may even be beyond your abilities.
What are the Benefits of Using a Programming Framework?
We've discussed programming frameworks as a prebuilt platform for a specific purpose, but we need to dive more into why you would want to use one. One of the main reasons to use a programming framework is that it speeds up development. A good framework will have a working template that can be launched when you finish downloading it. This means you only need to extend the app's functionality, not perform heavy setups, to get a functioning application.
Along with speeding up development by providing an operational base, programming frameworks also take care of areas you may be unable to handle. Not knowing how to secure an app fully doesn't make you a bad developer, but not securing the app does make you a bad developer. Some topics like security, database optimizations, and asset compilation workflows are best handled by those who specialize in those topics. Frameworks allow you to get the best forms of these items by including preconfigured security, database, and asset pipelines with the framework download.
Frameworks also create a shared language to develop. This framework language, built on a programming language, allows you to work with and troubleshoot similar issues to other developers. Having a shared development experience, you can handle every problem you face being novel with a community reference or walkthrough.
What Areas of Development Do Frameworks Address?
We know frameworks create reusable templates to boost development speed, but what can we build with these frameworks?
1. Back-End Development
The development of data layers, controllers, and routing is sped up using the back-end frameworks listed below. These frameworks usually have a configuration that allows models to talk to controllers and process server requests for your client:
• Ruby on Rails (used by Airbnb, Kickstarter, BaseCamp, CafePress)
• NodeJS (used by Uber, PayPal, NASA)
• Django (used by Disqus, Instagram, Spotify, YouTube)
• Spring ( used by Accenture, Intuit, Zillow)
2. Front-End Development
Front-end frameworks help you create beautiful and responsive user interfaces. These frameworks handle the heavy lifting of tasks such as state management and forming HTTP requests. Some examples of these frameworks include:
• Angular (used by PayPal, Upwork, Google, Nike)
• React (used by Facebook, Instagram, Uber, Netflix, Airbnb)
• Vue (used by Trustpilot, Nintendo, Behance)
3. Mobile Development
The world has gone mobile in the last decade. As of March 2023, 58% of website traffic came from mobile devices. It is essential to build mobile-first experiences, whether it be news or shopping. Mobile development frameworks like these help:
• Flutter (used by Reflectly, Google Ads)
• React Native (used by Facebook, Instagram)
4. Data Science
Building data models to find significance across grocery cart items or optimize routes assigned for delivery services is challenging. Data Science frameworks such as Pandas allow prebuilt data analysis and manipulation tools to speed up data insights:
• Pandas (used by Instacart, Trivago, Delivery Hero)
5. Content Management System (CMS)
Managing static page templates, user insights, and assets is difficult. Users expect blazing-fast content delivery, which requires caching, optimized page loads, and quick asset access. This is where CMS frameworks come in:
• WordPress (used by Sony Music, TechCrunch, Time Magazine)
• Gatsby (used by Airbnb Developer and Designer Sites)
• NextJS (used by Netflix Jobs, Hulu, Notion)
What Makes a Good Framework?
There are several aspects to examine when choosing between two very similar frameworks. First, and one of the most telling signs of a suitable framework, is good documentation. Does the framework have installation and getting started docs? What about pages on advanced usage and common issues? Strong documentation is a good sign that the developers behind the framework were thoughtful and organized when building the framework you are looking to use.
If the documentation is good, try Googling a few common questions you may have about using the framework. Check if the documentation shows up in the search results and how many relevant StackOverflow or Medium articles appear. Good frameworks should have many search results for common errors. This is evidence that a large and active community of developers can help with problems and are likely to be discovering and fixing bugs.
The next sign of a good framework is no breaking changes between versions. Breaking changes are a part of code and occur when new version updates introduce code that breaks existing apps with non-compatible features. This issue can be handled once or twice during an app's life but should not be a common occurrence. Ensure no blog posts from the company or Stack Overflow posts from developers troubleshooting breaking changes on every version release.
The final sign of a suitable framework involves the framework itself. Clear code matters. Use of language best practices and general design patterns matter. Having the framework work out of the box is essential. If the code you are working to extend is not clear, well-written, and functional from the start, then you should have reservations about using that framework.
Answering these questions is relatively easy with a little bit of research. Finding a good framework is worth the hour of research compared to fighting with a flawed framework for months or even years.
Are there Drawbacks to using a Framework?
Of course, with anything good, there are some drawbacks. For frameworks, the main issues come with code complexity and open-source vulnerabilities. First, we can discuss code complexity and difficulty with base-level modifications. Frameworks are templates and therefore have boilerplate built to perform base logic. This is great if the base logic works as needed but is near impossible to change if you need modifications. You can rewrite the underlying logic and use new packages and libraries, but once you change base logic, you are not working with the same framework as other developers.
Along with not being easy to modify at a base level, frameworks will sometimes suffer from code bloat. A well-rounded framework offers solutions to many problems. This is great if you need to solve many problems, but it can quickly balloon your application's required memory and clog your network traffic with heavy request-response cycles. More isn't always better, and you may find yourself stitching together your own packages to build a lightweight framework if the available options have more functionality than you want or can support.
Regarding developers, frameworks can be costly to introduce to a team and for onboarding new engineers. Frameworks are an extension of a base coding language and therefore have their own patterns, objects, and syntax. While they offer time-saving benefits for ease of setup and development, there is still a learning curve for getting a team ready to move to a new framework. There is also a learning curve for onboarding new developers who may join your team.
The final major drawback of programming frameworks is possible bugs and vulnerabilities. Because you and your team did not build all the code for the framework, it is possible for there to be app-crashing bugs and vulnerabilities. While it is significant that the code is open source to allow other developers to find and fix bugs, the open-source nature means that all of these bugs are discoverable by developers with bad intentions. You can't fix this, but it is something to be aware of.
Learn to Use Today's Frameworks
Whether trying to master a framework or working to understand loops, structured learning is always helpful. Software engineering bootcamps help answer the questions of which languages and frameworks are the best for learning and getting your first software engineering job. If you are interested in instruction to fast-track your software engineering journey, check out the Software Engineering Bootcamp from Thinkful.