20 Useful JavaScript Tools or Libraries or Frameworks to consider!

I am sure many JavaScript developers write a bunch of code to achieve some form validation or live update of form data or storing the data asynchronously etc. I have good news for them to do their job quickly or effortlessly.

Javascript Tools, Frameworks and Libraries for Web Developers
Javascript Tools, Frameworks, and Libraries for Web Developers

Below are a few lists of interesting and useful JavaScript Tools, Libraries or Frameworks you might not have come across, which can/must be considered while developing interactive web applications.

fixmyjs:

fixmyjs.com is meant to fix your lint errors in a non-destructive way automatically. It uses JSHint to detect errors. For more information, go here. Which fixes lint errors like Missing semicolons, Missing spaces, Mixed spaces/tabs, Unnecessary semicolons, Removes confusing trailing decimal points, Removes debugger statements, Uses the isNaN function rather than comparing to NaN, Adds 0 to leading decimals, and more.

Popcorn.js:

Popcorn.js is an HTML5 media framework written in JavaScript for filmmakers, web developers, and anyone who wants to create time-based interactive media on the web. Popcorn.js is part of Mozilla’s Popcorn project.

CoffeeScript:

CoffeeScript is a little language that compiles JavaScript. Underneath all those awkward braces and semicolons, JavaScript has always had a gorgeous object model at its heart.

CoffeeScript is an attempt to expose the good parts of JavaScript simply. The golden rule of CoffeeScript is: “It’s just JavaScript”. The code compiles one-to-one into the equivalent JS, and there is no interpretation at runtime. You can seamlessly use any existing JavaScript library from CoffeeScript (and vice-versa).

Handlebars.js:

Handlebars provide the power necessary to let you build semantic templates effectively with no frustration. Mustache templates are compatible with Handlebars, so you can take a Mustache template, import it into Handlebars, and start taking advantage of the extra Handlebars features.

Highlight.js:

Highlight.js highlights syntax in code examples on blogs, forums, and in fact, on any web pages. It’s very easy to use because it works automatically: it finds blocks of code, detects a language, and highlights it.

This is not only convenient but also allows highlighting for code examples marked up with writing syntaxes like Markdown where there is no way to specify HTML class easily. The library knows 54 languages and is bundled with 26 style themes.

Leaflet.js:

The leaflet is a modern open-source JavaScript library for mobile-friendly interactive maps. It is developed by Vladimir Agafonkin of CloudMade with a team of dedicated contributors. The leaflet is designed with simplicity, performance, and usability in mind.

It works efficiently across all major desktop and mobile platforms out of the box, taking advantage of HTML5 and CSS3 on modern browsers while being accessible on older ones too. It can also be extended with many plugins, has a beautiful, easy-to-use and well-documented API, and a simple, readable source code that is a joy to contribute to.

Knockout.js:

Knockout.js is a simplified dynamic JavaScript UIs by applying the Model-View-View-Model (MVVM) pattern. Declarative Bindings: Easily associate DOM elements with model data using a concise, readable syntax.

Automatic UI Refresh: When your data model’s state changes, your UI updates automatically. Dependency Tracking: Implicitly set up chains of relationships between model data to transform and combine it. Templating: Quickly generate sophisticated, nested UIs as a function of your model data.

Breeze.js:

Build rich web apps in JavaScript with techniques you know. Client caching: Cache queried, new, and changed data on the client for a responsive UI. Track changes: raise events and validate using rules in metadata and rules you write. Rich queries: Query the server and client cache with filters, ordering, paging, and projections. Plays nice: Breeze works great with the tools you use – like jQuery, Knockout, and Backbone.

Backbone.js:

Backbone.js gives structure to web applications by providing models with key-value binding and custom events, collections with a rich API of enumerable functions views with declarative event handling, and connects it all to your existing API over a RESTful JSON interface.

JSHint:

JSHint is a fork of JSLint, the tool written and maintained by Douglas Crockford. JSHint is a community-driven tool to detect errors and potential problems in JavaScript code and to enforce your team’s coding conventions.

It is very flexible so you can easily adjust it to your particular coding guidelines and the environment you expect your code to execute in. JSHint scans a program written in JavaScript and reports about commonly made mistakes and potential bugs. The potential problem could be a syntax error, a bug due to implicit type conversion, a leaking variable, or something else.

Underscore.js:

Underscore is a utility-belt library for JavaScript that provides a lot of the functional programming support that you would expect in Prototype.js (or Ruby), but without extending any of the built-in JavaScript objects.

Underscore provides 80-odd functions that support both the usual functional suspects: map, select, invoke, as well as more specialized helpers: function binding, javascript templating, deep equality testing, and so on. It delegates to built-in functions, if present, so modern browsers will use the native implementations of forEach, map, reduce, filter, every, some, and indexOf.

D3.js – Data-Driven Documents:

D3.js is a JavaScript library for manipulating documents based on data. D3 helps you bring data to life using HTML, SVG, and CSS. D3’s emphasis on web standards gives you the full capabilities of modern browsers without tying yourself to a proprietary framework, combining powerful visualization components and a data-driven approach to DOM manipulation.

Reveal.js:

REVEAL.JS – HTML PRESENTATIONS MADE EASY – reveal.js is a framework for easily creating beautiful presentations using HTML. You’ll need a browser with support for CSS 3D transforms to see it in its full glory.

Impress.js:

Aren’t you just bored with all those slides-based presentations?

Don’t you think that presentations given in modern browsers shouldn’t copy the limits of ‘classic’ slide decks?

Would you like to impress your audience with stunning visualization of your talk?
then you should try impress.js

It’s a presentation tool inspired by the idea behind prezi.com and based on the power of CSS3 transforms and transitions in modern browsers. You can improve your presentation layer and impress by positioning, rotating, and scaling them on an infinite canvas.

LABjs Script Loader:

Loading And Blocking JavaScript. The core purpose of LABjs is to be an all-purpose, on-demand JavaScript loader, capable of loading any JavaScript resource, from any location, into any page, at any time. Loading your scripts with LABjs reduces resource blocking during page load, which is an easy and effective way to optimize your site’s performance.

RequireJS:

RequireJS is a JavaScript file and module loader. It is optimized for in-browser use, but it can be used in other JavaScript environments, like Rhino and Node. Using a modular script loader like RequireJS will improve the speed and quality of your code.

BonsaiJS:

Bonsai is a JavaScript graphics library. A lightweight graphics library with an intuitive graphics API and an SVG renderer. Architecturally separated runner and renderer. iFrame, Worker, and Node running contexts. Paths, Assets (Audio, Video, Images, Fonts, SubMovies). Keyframe and time-based animations (easing functions too), Path morphing, and more.

Grunt:

Grunt is a task-based command-line build tool for JavaScript projects.

Raphaël JavaScript Library:

Raphaël – JavaScript Library: Raphaël is a small JavaScript library that should simplify your work with vector graphics on the web. If you want to create your own specific chart or image crop and rotate widget, for example, you can achieve it simply and easily with this library.

Raphaël uses the SVG W3C Recommendation and VML as a base for creating graphics. This means every graphical object you create is also a DOM object, so you can attach JavaScript event handlers or modify them later. Raphaël’s goal is to provide an adapter that will make drawing vector art compatible cross-browser and easy.

Ember.js:

A framework for creating ambitious web applications. Write dramatically less code with Ember’s Handlebars integrated templates that update automatically when the underlying data changes. Ember.js is built for productivity. Designed with developer ergonomics in mind, its friendly APIs help you get your job done fast.

I am sure there are many like these and I will share a few more JavaScript Tools or Frameworks or Libraries in the next article. If you think some JavaScripts to get featured here or if I have missed anything in major, I request you to share the same via comments – so that, it will be really helpful for me in coding the applications and also useful to other fellow developers around.

Scroll to Top