A SPA (Single-page application) is a type of web application that loads only a single web document, and then updates the body content of that single document through JavaScript APIs such as XMLHttpRequest and Fetch when other content is to be shown.
SPA permits users to utilize websites without loading whole new pages from the server, which can result in performance improvements and a more dynamic and smooth experience, with some tradeoff disadvantages such as SEO, more effort required to maintain state, implement navigation, and do meaningful performance monitoring.

Which Single Page Application Framework is the Best?

A Single Page Application framework is incorporated with a lot of utilities that drive the development process streamlined. Along with automating repetitious coding tasks, and offering ready-to-use components, these frameworks also provide HTML and AJAX support, URL routing, data caching, protection against security vulnerabilities, and improved performance.

Some famous web frameworks used for the web application development of Single Page Applications are listed below.

React Js

ReactJS is a widely used, high-performance library for creating the user interface. It is used in many popular social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, etc. Earlier, the traditional approach was to create applications using server-rendered HTML. Each user interaction would result in generating a new request, therefore, loading an entirely new page. This resulted in slow loading and hence poor performance and poor customer experience. React uses virtual DOM and this “Virtual DOM” is considered as the biggest benefit of React by the developers. React is preferred as the best framework for SPA development because it is

• Lightweight
• Separation of concerns(SoC)
• JSX – XML like syntax allows you to render HTML code using JavaScript
• Virtual DOMs
• Object-oriented paradigm
• Highly scalable and flexible
• High performance
• Components based framework that promotes reusability and flexibility

Vue Js

Vue Js is a front-end JavaScript framework built to develop web applications, SPA, and user interfaces, which is based on a model-view-view-model (MVVM) is known as Vue.js. The framework is focused on the view layer, component composition, and declarative rendering.
If you prefer simplicity and flexibility in your front-end frameworks, then Vue is a good option. Besides, it’s the most lightweight of all other frameworks.

Being a flexible open-source framework, it can be utilized for fast, cost-efficient web application development. You can produce complex traditional web applications with heavy traffic or small-scale static websites. Surprisingly, Vue is also competent in the development of single-page applications. Currently, such companies as GitLab, Baidu, and Alibaba use Vue.js for their needs. This is due to the many features it offers such as:

• Lightweight, easy to use
• A minimalistic ecosystem
• Virtual DOM results in faster dynamic HTML pages rendering
• Customizable and reusable components
• MVVM software design architecture
• Reactive two-way data binding
• Easily integrable with other Vue frameworks
• User-friendly coding environment
• Flexible to integrate with any third-party apps

AngularJS

Angular is one of the open-source, front-end, JavaScript-based frameworks widely used in creating single page applications on the client-side. It has been created by Google and the popular users of AngularJS include Microsoft, Google, and PayPal. It is qualified of transferring the entire content directly from the server to the browser, loading all the pages at the same time. Once they are loaded, the page does not reload if a link is clicked upon; instead, the sections within the page are updated instantly. AngularJS allows faster loading of pages as there is less load on the server. The two-way data binding feature saves the burden of writing numerous codes. Here, automatic integration of data between model and view components takes place. Further, AngularJS works on MVC architecture. Below are some features of this single page application framework:

• Dependency injection
• High performance and speed
• Highly extensible with other libraries
• Caching
• Two-way data binding feature eliminating the need for DOM manipulation
• No dependencies to code
• Debugging and testing

EmberJS

EmberJS is a highly opinionated, open-source framework that facilitates greater flexibility. It observes a widget-based approach known by the name Ember components. The templates incorporated with Handlebars get updated automatically as the data changes, using minimal coding. The widespread users of EmberJS include Microsoft, Netflix, LinkedIn, Live, Vine, etc. Apple Music, which is a desktop application also uses EmberJS. Also, it has a powerful routing system. It works on the MVVM pattern and follows the Convention over Configuration (CoC) model. The data library presented by EmberJS is quite resourceful. Its friendly API makes many prefer EmberJS over other frameworks. It follows a two-way data binding pattern.

The framework offers defaults and basic templates to promote the best developing techniques. Some other unique functionalities offered by Ember are:

• It has all the utilities a developer requires to develop a high-functioning application. It delivers hundreds of high-quality, curated npm packages.
• It is a scalable, easy-to-use UI architecture
• Ember Addons to execute new functionalities in your application.
• Ember CLI comes built-in with an environment with rapid rebuilds, and auto-reload
• Easy testing and deployment of web applications
• URL routing
• The inbuilt data layer can be integrated with popular database environments too
• Convention over configuration

Closing Notes

Single Page Applications are the reason for the rapid loading time and creative user interactions of many popular websites. Building SPA is an effective solution for drawing end-users and customers.

At Codebirsk, we facilitate the development of single-page apps as our main goal is to provide a smooth user experience. Our proficient team of web developers has years of experience in providing successful web applications across the globe. So You can contact us for any suggestion about the development of an interactive, dynamic single-page application for your enterprise.