frameworks, libraries and tools

Virtually no software can be developed without frameworks, libraries and "tools". This is one of the reasons for the triumphal march of open source, because software projects build today almost always and to a large extent on already existing code. The better you can see, understand and, above all, adapt, the code the better suited it is for use in projects.

Anyone already surprised by the 125 languages in the previous section (link), is in for another surprise. There are thousands of frameworks and libraries. If "only" 220 are listed here, that might be because the study participants did not want to list everything that is still used somewhere as a dependency in a project. (A library or framework is also often referred to as dependency). It is also sometimes controversial to discuss what is ost likely a framework, a library or a tool. The boundaries are not always clear.

Nevertheless, the right choice is as relevant to the success of the solution and the satisfaction of the developers as in the programming languages. By choosing the right framework, even a little popular language can sometimes be upgraded and the work is fun again. Conversely, a tedious framework or an exhausting library can destroy any fun in a language.

Unfortunately, comparisons in this section are less easy to make than with the programming languages.This will be optimized in the next survey.

-->Relevant data online as Excel

Frameworks, librarise & tools developers use

• At number one, by far, is Node.js. That's surprising. For some, this is more like a parser or engine for server or desktop use of JavaScript. Nevertheless, it allows the insight that JavaScript is increasingly being used on the server.
• Surprisingly, especially in international comparison, is the local strength of Angular. Internationally, in the field of single-page application JavaScript / TypeScript frameworks, React.js is the one thing that will soon be superseded by Vue.js (see Stackoverflow Survey).
• With Spring, 'the' Java framework is in the forefront. Incidentally, Spring often served as a template for frameworks in other languages. For example, PHP Symfony, which relies heavily on Spring, even though it's a different language.
• .NET, ".NET Core" and ASP.NET are representatives of the C # world.
• Django and Flask belong to the Python world as MVC frameworks. Also from the Python corner are Pandas and Torch / PyTorch. We would also count TensorFlow as it is almost always driven by Python.
• Laravel (PHP) and Django (Python) are strongly geared towards "Ruby on Rails" - the MVC Web Framework that Ruby has put on the map as a language.
• Ansible, Puppet, and Chef are more relevant to the automation of system engineering or cloud. Writing code is now virtually unavoidable for modern system engineers in the server or cloud sector. After all, who wants go back to a time when it was necessary to manually click through the installation dialogs for 200 server nodes.
• Addendum: Docker and Kubernetes have been added due to suggestions by some participants. We listed them instead in the seciont about platforms.
• With Unreal Engine, CryEngine and Unity 3D gaming and 3D worlds make an appearance.

Node.js	344
Angular	234
jQuery	224
Spring	194
.NET	160
.NET Core	149
React	134
ASP.NET	109
Vue.js	92
Ansible	68
Express	66
Xamarin	47
Django	45
Pandas	40
Cordova	39
Ruby on Rails	38
TensorFlow	37
Flask	35
Symfony	31
Laravel	28
React Native	27
Unity 3D	26
Puppet	21
Spark	19
Hadoop	18
Grails	17
Torch/PyTorch	16
Apache Spark	11
Chef	11
Vaadin*	10
Unreal Engine	9
Flutter	9
Terraform*	7
Docker*	7
Kubernetes*	6
Maven*	6
Keras*	6
CryEngine	6
Hibernate*	5

Frameworks, libraries and tools developers would like to use

• TensorFlow is at the forefront here, although it is not (yet) used that often. An interesting pointer, considering that it is primarily used in the field of machine learning or artificial intelligence. One of the topics that developers attach great importance to over the next five years. (Link)
• Otherwise, JavaScript Framework theme shows up again with React, Vue.js and Angular.
• A small swivel is "React Native": A framework or library that allows to build quasi-native smartphone apps for iOS and Android using JavaScript and React. The counterpart to this is certainly Xamarin from the C # world or Flutter.
• The appearance of Unity 3D, CryEngine and Unreal Engine once again shows the developers' interest in building 3D worlds or games. Another appearance if these names appear in the "should be introduced" section would be indicative of something more than a hobby.
• Java: Spring is only  at rank 11, but already widely in use.

React	157
Vue.js	101
TensorFlow	90
Angular	77
Node.js	71
React Native	55
Hadoop	45
Unity 3D	43
Unreal Engine	42
.NET Core	36
Spring	35
Flutter	36
Xamarin	34
Ansible	32
Django	32
Spark	31
.NET	26
jQuery	21
Apache Spark	21
Torch/PyTorch	20
Ruby on Rails	18
Cordova	17
Flask	17
Puppet	15
Express	13
Pandas	10
Laravel	10
Chef	10
ASP.NET	9
CryEngine	8
Symfony	7
Grails	7

Frameworks, libraries and tools developers like

• Node.js is not only used a lot, it is also popular. It will be exciting to see if this holds up in the negative association section farther down.
• The placement of Spring and .NET Core clearly show which frameworks are favored in the Java world or C # world.
• In tenth place is TensorFlow with Machine Learning. Interesting detail: A lot of the development in this area is done with Python, because that is what most libraries, examples and training possibilities focus on.
• In this list, there was only one participant addition with more than five votes. Astonishingly enough, QT is a C++ based GUI library, which probably has the strongest representative with the Linux desktop environment KDE.

Node.js	173
Angular	158
Spring	141
.NET Core	139
React	121
.NET	117
Vue.js	95
jQuery	92
ASP.NET	58
TensorFlow	48
Django	47
Ansible	46
Unity 3D	45
Xamarin	38
Flask	38
Laravel	38
React Native	35
Ruby on Rails	35
Express	31
Pandas	31
Symfony	26
Unreal Engine	23
Cordova	22
Spark	21
Hadoop	17
Puppet	17
Flutter	17
Torch/PyTorch	15
Apache Spark	12
Grails	11
Chef	7
Qt*	5

Frameworks, libraries and tools developers don't like

• As already suggested above, the Love / Hate dynamics in the Java environment are revealed again - no further comment.
• For the first time, Cordova is at the top. It was the first solution for the simultaneous development of smartphone apps for Android and iOS. For this a so-called container app is delivered, which performs the app-specific functionality in a browser as a web application. It solves the same problem as Xamarin, Flutter, or React Native, which, significantly, also feature on this "do not like" list.
• Interestingly, even Ruby on Rails can be found here. A framework that is usually highly spoken of and from which other frameworks have adopted much. For example, Grails (Groovy on Rails). which can be descirbe as the scripting language of the Java world or as the PHP of the Java world - especially if you want to make friends at Java parties.

Angular	99
Node.js	91
jQuery	90
Spring	47
Cordova	44
Xamarin	43
ASP.NET	42
React	41
.NET Core	33
.NET	32
Ruby on Rails	26
React Native	20
Symfony	19
Django	16
Flutter	16
Laravel	15
Puppet	14
Ansible	12
Grails	12
Unity 3D	10
CryEngine	10
Vue.js	9
TensorFlow	9
Flask	9
Chef	9
Spark	8
Express	7
Hadoop	7
Pandas	6

Frameworks, libraries and tools developers want to adopt

Who does not belong here to the usual suspects? For sure TensorFlow with its focus on Machine Learning, Ansible with its focus on automation of server infrastructures or Spark a Kotlin-framework for the construction of web applications. Could that mean that Java developers who learn Kotlin want to use it in the backend as well?

Non-developers may wonder if this issue really matters: a definite YES! The time and energy involved in learning these frameworks and libraries is high. The software developed with it often remains in use for a long time and must be further developed and maintained accordingly.

Node.js	57
React	49
Vue.js	47
.NET Core	44
TensorFlow	39
Angular	31
Spring	29
.NET	22
Ansible	21
React Native	18
Spark	15
Xamarin	14
Django	13
Unity 3D	13
jQuery	12
Express	11
Unreal Engine	11
Ruby on Rails	10
Laravel	10
Hadoop	10
Pandas	10
Torch/PyTorch	10
Cordova	9
Flutter	10
Flask	9
ASP.NET	7
Puppet	6
Apache Spark	6
Symfony	5

Frameworks, libraries and tools developers want to replace

• The number of technologies her with more than five mentions is rather short here and would not be much longer even if  including the technologies mentioned by  only 1-3 people.
• It seems developers would gladly be rid of ASP.NET and .NET. As a replacement there is ".NET Core", a C# framework developed by Microsoft that is addressing developers for the first time who normally would be as likely to utter Bill Gates name as Voldemort is mentioned at Hogwarts. After all, it runs on Linux and is mostly open source.
• A few words about the first-placed jQuery: This library comes from the JavaScript world and is very common. Back in the dark days of the browser wars it was one of the first solutions which allowed for the possibility of developing a JavaScript application that would run for most users. Personally, I still have post-traumatic twitches when I see an icon that reminds me of Internet Explorer 6.
• Surprisingly, there is also Angular - maybe because developers in large Swiss companies were sometimes involuntarily confronted with it. This is probable because it is a framework that requires a steep learning curve. The same applies to Vue.JS or React.JS, especially in large applications.

jQuery	122
Angular	54
ASP.NET	51
.NET	34
Node.js	30
Cordova	29
Spring	28
Xamarin	20
React	19
Ruby on Rails	18
.NET Core	13
Django	13
Symfony	13
React Native	11
Vue.js	10
Puppet	10
Grails	10
CryEngine	9
Laravel	7
Flutter	7
Express	6
Unreal Engine	5
Chef	5

Frameworks, libraries and tools developers want be keep

Once again a longer list featuring the usual suspects and without big surprises. No further comment.

Node.js	145
Angular	101
Spring	101
React	86
.NET Core	68
.NET	59
jQuery	56
Vue.js	46
ASP.NET	30
Ansible	28
Django	26
Express	24
TensorFlow	24
Xamarin	19
Symfony	16
Pandas	16
Unity 3D	15
Ruby on Rails	14
React Native	14
Flask	13
Puppet	12
Laravel	12
Cordova	11
Unreal Engine	8
Hadoop	7
Spark	6
Torch/PyTorch	6
Chef	5