What are the arguments against using a JavaScript Framework for a Web site development company? [closed]

Answer 1

There are plenty of good reasons to be suspicious of frameworks in general, balanced of course by lots of reasons why they are worthwhile.

I use jquery now, and frankly within an hour of learning it realised that it fits the job so well that if it didn't exist I'd only end up reimplementing something very similar myself, only it wouldn't be as good or as cross platform.

There isn't much bloat there, it's very small and well designed and does nothing at all that stops you writing any javascript you want for specific cases that don't fit your needs.

Answer 2

I'm surprised no one has already mentioned it:

• A lot of web developers default to using JQuery without considering the alternatives
• And end up including it on a web page to do a few trivial tasks which could easily be done in pure JavaScript
• The result is that users have to wait for the whole library to download and it slows down web browsing

Also:

• Some web developers get carried away with the design of web pages, and end up developing unnecessarily complex web pages because of the power of JQuery
• Just because JQuery enables you to create scripts with good cross-browser compatibility it doesn't mean that the end result is usable on different devices / interfaces
• I'd also argue the cross-browser compatibilty because I've seen instances of webkit not playing well with JQuery
• JQuery encourages "fast" scripting - but if you rush it you are likely to have missed something out
• Writing in JavaScript from scratch is slower - but I believe that you end up with a more complete solution which more closely matches the users needs
• Using JQuery can shift the focus of the web developer to creating web sites which are highly graphical and visually appealing, whereas the focus should be on functionality and usability
• JQuery is not a silver bullet for web development

I am biased here because I don't use JQuery, but it is because I haven't found a need for it yet - maybe it's because I focus more on usability and functionality rather than making the user interface look pretty (sorry I know JQuery can do more than that).

Answer 3

By your coworkers point of view, .NET and JAVA are for people who don't know enough assembly.

Frameworks exist for a reason. They allow you go focus on the problem instead of dealing with repetitive code. They allow you to be confident (assuming you use well tested frameworks) that certain pieces of your code are reliable and well tested.

If your coworkers are against frameworks, I would seriously consider moving on.

Answer 4

An argument against libraries is BROWSER SUPPORT most libraries support only a subset of browsers out there . Here is an example of BBC rolling out their own instead of using something like jquery .

Answer 5

I liked the answer of pb +

Mainly for people that don't know enough JS

I believe it is too complicated for them, so they use this excuse. FW allows you to build much more complex applications.

Frameworks limit Javascript developers

bullshit

Frameworks bloat the actual development code with a lot of things that are not used.

what is it today extra 100k-200k? especially if you use the CDN versions (at google for instance). And this is assuming you use nothing in the FW.

Answer 6

Since no one has mentioned it - a Javascript framework rapidly becomes one more project dependancy, and in general terms, dependencies are bad as they represent points of failure.

As for this:

• Mainly for people that don't know enough JS

Without elaborating, I will say that if one of our team said something like that in my presence, I would try to shrug it off as a joke. If I thought they were being serious, I would probably have to kill them.

And as for this:

• Frameworks limit Javascript developers

That could translate to "Frameworks make it marginally harder to write spaghetti code, and that's what I do best"

Those are not arguments, they are excuses.