The Most Popular Tools for JavaScript Developers

JavaScript, one of the most popular lightweight programming languages, celebrates its 23rd anniversary in 2023. This language is adored by the tech world, from amateur to advanced developers. Why is it so, you ask? In the expert’s hands, the best process tools for Javascript development create rich and interactive user experiences (UX) on the web and mobile.

Plenty of tools are available in the JavaScript ecosystem for development and debugging. The main task is to choose those that gel well with your workflow. At BairesDev, our tech consultants offer their niche expertise on industry-relevant technologies, including JavaScript. This guide will provide insights on 21 tools for JavaScript developers in producing effective outputs and enriching your development journey.

Each tool plays a pivotal role in your JavaScript development journey. So ensure you read till the end.

What Is JavaScript Development?

The brainchild of Brendan Eich, JavaScript was invented in 1995 for the Netscape 2 browser. Since then, the list of browsers supporting JavaScript has kept piling up. Before we get into the tools, we recommend that you be aware of JavaScript best practices. These measures can help you craft cleaner, leaner, and top-quality code, especially if you are new to this tech stack.

Each project has its unique process flow. However, here are the five key steps in the JavaScript development process in general.

Design and Development

The pivotal part is where our developers ideate and implement the solution.

Testing

We take the product through rigorous rounds of quality assurance and remove bugs.

Deployment

This is the go-to-market phase once we are absolutely sure that the final product is industry-grade.

Support

We provide continuous support and maintenance so that your solution remains up to date with the market requirements.

What Are the Main Benefits of JavaScript Tools?

JavaScript’s amazing ecosystem makes it so beloved by the developer community. From Gmail and Facebook to Twitter, JavaScript brings unmatched user interactivity. Let’s dive into why it benefits the end user so much!

Short Learning Curve

JS is beginner-friendly thanks to the plethora of frameworks and libraries with built-in functions. The syntax and IDE environment simplify coding and debugging to a large extent.

Seamless Client-Side UX

JS and its asynchronous nature enable backend server communication without hindering the front-end user interaction.

Responsive Web Design

Adjusting the design for different browsers is out of the picture with JavaScript. JS developers can reuse the same code base along with HTML and CSS.

Eye-Catching User Interactivity

With frameworks like Vue and Angular, JS is taking engagement levels and UX to a whole new level! The visual appeal alone is a benefit that entices developers.

Massive Online Community

The sheer number of online forums and techie communities that chat on JS is massive! This makes problem-solving and ideation exceptionally simple for new developers on the JS bandwagon.

Now that you know why JavaScript tools still have immense market demand, let’s look into the tool categories.

What Types of JavaScript Tools Are Available?

We’ll classify the 21 tools we’re about to discuss into 7 types based on functionality or the role they play in JavaScript application development.

1. Code Editors

JavaScript editor tools or IDEs offer a robust platform for coding and debugging complex projects.

2. Debuggers

That single misplaced comma can cause hours of headaches for the developer, but not anymore with debugger tools that pinpoint the tiniest of errors hidden in your code.

3. Package Managers

These tools automate multiple processes, including identifying the JavaScript packages, downloads, installations, upgrades, and configurations.

4. Build Tools

This category of tools creates executable applications when fed with the source code. JavaScript build tools streamline the overall workflow.

5. Testing Tools

The ever-increasing complexity of JavaScript applications makes manual testing almost infeasible. Using testing tools, you can run scripts and check if your code works as intended in different circumstances.

6. Documentation Tools

The code will not speak for itself. Documentation tools automate that time-sucking and tiresome process of drafting documents. Well-written and apt documents make a developer’s life way simpler.

7. Collaboration Tools

From group messaging, file sharing, and editing to problem resolutions, collaboration tools eliminate the clunkiness and confusion associated with development.

How to Choose the Right Process Tool

Choosing the right tools for your JavaScript development depends mainly on the task at hand. However, we’ll describe seven key parameters that simplify your decision-making process.

1. Ease of use: The learning curves of process tools vary. Tools like Vue, for instance, are beginner-friendly. The Angular framework is more feature-rich and requires a steep learning curve. It is imperative to select tools depending on your team’s prowess in JavaScript technology.

2. Compatibility: This factor isn’t critical if you’re starting a JavaScript project from scratch. However, if you’re implementing code on an existing website, weigh the time and money required. Choose a new tool that can run in tandem with the existing one.

3. Popularity: Select those tools that are currently trending in the market if your project timelines are shorter. This approach speeds up the learning and debugging process due to the abundance of online material available.

4. Features: The performance of your website depends on the tool’s features. React and Vue are examples that provide quick responses due to their virtual DOM. In contrast, Angular is feature-heavy but provides a visually appealing UI and better control.

5. Cost: The cost of any JavaScript application development process depends on its requirements. Assess the required functionalities, project timelines, and workforce to choose the optimum process tool.

6. Customizability: Each tool has its level of personalization. An editor like Sublime Text is cross-platform compatible and offers speed of coding. Atom is another tool that offers rich theme customizations.

7. Integration: This factor is relevant when you’re looking for debugging tools. These process tools simplify automated testing due to their inherent compatibility with CI/CD tools.

By now, you know there is no one-size-fits-all JavaScript tool for websites. The best approach is to define the problem statement and then narrow it down to your ideal tool considering the above factors. With this thought, let’s move to the core section of this guide: the list of best JavaScript tools.

The 3 Best JavaScript Code Editors

Choosing a platform where you code is a big decision. Why? Responsive design, shortcuts, and other process optimizations become difficult while switching. JavaScript IDEs come with debugging capabilities, version controls, and multi-platform support that eases the overall coding process.

Atom

Built with the Electron framework for desktop applications, Atom is a freely available editor that users can easily install on Windows, Mac, or Linux. The intuitive file system browser and GitHub integration make this IDE a preferred process tool by beginners and advanced developers alike.

Key Features:

• Built-in package manager
• Smart autocompletion
• Fuzzy finder (enables instant file switching)

Visual Studio Code

Undeniably, one of the best JavaScript IDEs available, VS Code is provided by Microsoft. Like Atom, this editor tool comes with cross-platform support for Windows, Mac, and Linux. What differentiates VS Code is the automatic completions for JavaScript coding (IntelliSense).

Key Features

• Built-in debugging tool
• IntelliSense code completion
• Peek feature to expand function codes

Eclipse

Upon installing specific plugins, JavaScript developers can use this super-handy editor tool. Eclipse is known for its superior, robust performance. It makes debugging simple using the automated error reporting feature. The Docker UI for Oomph projects is another unique feature of this editor.

Key Features

• Advanced debugging features
• Automation and replication of workspaces
• Docker IU for building Docker images

The 3 Best JavaScript Debuggers

JavaScript code doesn’t always play nice. Thankfully, the abundance of JavaScript debuggers makes the troubleshooting pretty straightforward. Here are 3 debugging tools that are a must-have in your arsenal:

Chrome Developer Tools

This is a widely used debugger effective for performing swift bug fixes for your JavaScript code. You only need to add a debugger statement at the row that requires inspection. The Chrome debugger acts similarly to adding a breakpoint from the sources tab. The only contrast here is that it is line based.

Key Features

• Debugger API for line-by-line analysis
• Console API for viewing messages and stack traces
• Built in Profiler for measuring performance

Firefox Developer Tools

Mozilla developed this tool to overcome the limitations of debugging using console.log. The Firefox Developer Tool that comes with the latest browser includes all the Firebug functions. This aspect makes it comparable with the Chrome debugger.

Key Features

• Remote debug capability
• Pause execution options for self-paced debugging
• Pretty-print minified files

Node.js inspector

Debugging your Node.js file present in the backend can be a tedious affair. Use the following tools to simplify troubleshooting of Node applications:

• Node debug library
• Node.js V8 inspector manager for Chrome
• Visual Studio Code editor

Key Features

• Beginner-friendly debugging environment
• Built-in Node inspector
• Node.js V8 inspector is available as a Chrome extension

The 3 Best JavaScript Package Managers

JavaScript Package managers perform the tasks of hosting, fetching, and packaging JavaScript libraries. These third-party tools eliminate the need for developers to learn the algorithm associated with installations, compilations, or integrations. They automate the installation and updating of necessary components, making your life easier.

Here are our top three package managers:

npm

This package manager, designed for Node.js, helps JS developers to share code modules. You no longer need to handle the mundane processes of package installations and publishing.

Key Features

• Significantly low code size
• CLI compatible
• Most extensive JS library in the market

Bower

Using a manifest file, Bower keeps track of all JS packages. Bower automates all the routine tasks associated with frameworks, libraries, and other website components. It is immensely popular among the developer community due to its fully front-end-optimized nature that runs on a flat dependency tree structure.

Key Features

• Optimized front-end package management
• Supports plenty of workflow wrappers
• Minimized page load times

Volo

Volo is another tool that automates many tasks from the JS developer’s checklist. It favors GitHub for the package repository from where you can fetch dependencies. Volo helps you create front-end projects customized to a browser by leveraging templates.

Key Features

• Ability to use search terms for JS libraries
• Automation of AMD file conversions

JavaScript Build Tools

This category of tools primarily automates application execution from the source code. The “building” process of JavaScript build tools involves compilation, linking, and packaging into an executable output.

Let’s explore three of the trending build tools.

Webpack

It is one of the best bundler tools that bundle JS files required for a browser. With the loaders included, Webpack can transform front-end components like HTML, CSS, and image files.

Key Features

• Supports bundling of AMD, CommonJS and ES Modules.
• Reduced runtime
• Highly modular design

Parcel

A web application bundler, differentiated by its developer experience.” That’s how its official website tags Parcel. This tool supports plug-and-play and requires zero configuration.

Key Features

• Ultra-fast performance
• Custom plugin support

Rollup

This JS module bundler tool uses a standard ES coding format. It lets you combine the best functionalities available across different JS libraries.

Key Features

• Multi-format compilation support
• Best tool for JS libraries
• Small bundle size

JavaScript Testing Tools

Companies are into automating their testing processes. JavaScript testing tools are as essential as ever. While some are tailor-made for unit testing, others offer superior end-to-end testing automation.

Here, we’ll highlight three tools to make your JS testing efficient.

Jest

Developed by Facebook, this award-winning testing tool is perfect for ReactJS. The minimal configuration and simple setup make it beginner-friendly. The visual regression tests using screenshots make Jest a touch above the rest.

Key Features

• Fast performance
• Robust testing approach with short learning curves

Mocha

This framework is designed specifically for JS applications using Node.js. The tool is open source and has a plethora of documentation available online.

Key Features

• Support for generators
• Easy to map exceptions
• Flexible reporting capability

Jasmine

Jasmine’s testing framework is based on Node.js. This feature-rich tool follows asynchronous testing models. Be it Sinon or Chai, it is compatible with almost every available JS library.

Key Features

• Abundant documentation and community help
• Smooth learning curve
• Supports both front-end and backend testing

JavaScript Documentation Tools

Documenting your code development journey is key reference material for yourself and your team members in the future. In this section, we’ll glance into three of the most popular JavaScript documentation tools.

JSDoc

This API documentation tool helps JS developers document via comments. It has been a mature and stable tool in the market for over a decade.

Key Features

• Add documentation comments directly to the source code
• JSDoc tags to provide additional details

Docusaurus

You can easily publish documentation written in Markdown. It is easy to use and provides default styles, formatting, and seamless navigational capabilities.

Key Features

• Built-in blog support, internationalization
• Versioning of documentation

GitBook

You can document products and APIS using this user-friendly collaborative documentation tool. It integrates seamlessly with GitHub with support for over 700 plugins.

Key Features

• Impressive customization capabilities
• Robust plugin system

JavaScript Collaboration Tools

Real-time collaborative coding means each team member can access and work on your code. In scenarios like when your team is working on a new release, JavaScript collaboration tools can be more than handy for building communities, workflows, troubleshooting, and many other things!

GitHub

This tool is essentially a coder’s networking platform. Its version control feature helps keep track of all edited versions, helping in collaborative coding.

Key Features

• Team discussions — notify the team about updates
• Protected branches — define access control on editing

Bitbucket

This code hosting and collaboration tool helps from concept and testing to deployment. The exceptional quality of Jira and Trello integrations makes this tool preferred by teams.

Key Features

• Built-in CI/CD solution
• Robust security checks

Asana

This feature-rich project management tool has a dedicated platform for developers where they can create and collaborate. Asana API helps automate repetitive tasks, and you get a marketplace to publish your apps for sharing.

Key Features

• Simplifies project management and task coordination
• Audit Log API for data security

Conclusion

JavaScript programming has stood the test of time due to the ever-growing list of process tools that aid developers with many facets. The extreme levels of flexibility, intuitive web designs, and comfortable UX are only some of the driving factors.

The JS ecosystem is fast-evolving, and developers need to stay up to date with process tools and tech best practices. What is your opinion about our JS tools list? Would you like to add or replace any of them? Share your thoughts below, and do follow this space for expert insights on trending tech topics.