JavaScript - the language we've all grown to love and use daily. It's the unseen yet omnipresent force driving the web, from the simplest of websites to the most complex web applications. Yet, for all its widespread use and flexibility, one of the greatest challenges we face as developers is sifting through its vast, ever-expanding universe of packages.
Finding those gems – the packages that truly make our coding lives easier, more efficient, and more enjoyable – can be a daunting task. This article aims to ease that journey by highlighting some of the best and most useful JavaScript packages that are well worth incorporating into your development toolkit.
1. Tatum
We live to serve blockchain devs, so no surprise we’re serving up the only library you’ll ever need to get your app to speak to blockchains first. It’s an essential tool for any Web3 dev. Docs: Tatum Documentation
npm i @tatumio/tatum
2. Lodash
Lodash is the Swiss Army knife of JavaScript. Offering a plethora of utility functions for everyday programming tasks, it emphasizes a functional programming paradigm. Whether you're manipulating arrays, strings, objects, or numbers, Lodash has a function for that. Docs: Lodash Documentation
npm i lodash
3. React
React has revolutionized the way we build user interfaces. It's a declarative, efficient, and flexible JavaScript library that's perfect for creating dynamic UIs, especially for data-heavy applications. Docs: React Documentation
npm i react react-dom
4. Moment.js
Handling dates and times in JavaScript can be a real headache. Moment.js comes to the rescue, making parsing, validating, manipulating, and displaying dates and times a breeze, not to mention handling those pesky time zones. Docs: Moment.js Documentation
npm i moment
5. Mongoose
Mongoose is an elegant MongoDB object modeling tool for Node.js. It provides a straightforward, schema-based solution to model your application data and includes built-in type casting, validation, query building, and business logic hooks. Docs: Mongoose Documentation
npm i mongoose
6. Jest
Testing is crucial, and Jest makes it delightful. This JavaScript Testing Framework focuses on simplicity and support for large-scale applications. Docs: Jest Documentation
npm i -D jest
7. Webpack
Webpack is a powerful static module bundler for modern JavaScript applications. Docs: Webpack Documentation
npm i -D webpack webpack-cli
8. Axios
When it comes to making HTTP requests, Axios stands out. This promise-based client is great for fetching or saving data. Docs: Axios Documentation
npm i axios
9. Socket.io
For real-time communication, Socket.io is a game-changer. It enables bidirectional and event-based communication between web clients and servers. Docs: Socket.io Documentation
npm i socket.io
10. Next.js
Next.js offers a seamless framework for building server-rendered React applications. Docs: Next.js Documentation
npm i next react react-dom
Access All the Tools to Build on Blockchain for Free
[.c-wr-center][.button-black]Sign Up[.button-black][.c-wr-center]
11. Angular
Angular is a platform and framework for building single-page client applications using HTML and TypeScript. Docs: Angular CLI Documentation
npm i -g @angular/cli
12. Redux
Redux is a predictable state container for JavaScript apps, perfect for managing the state in a consistent way in large applications. Docs: Redux Toolkit Documentation
npm i @reduxjs/toolkit react-redux
13. Vue.js
Vue.js is a progressive framework for building user interfaces, focusing on declarative rendering and component composition. Docs: Vue Documentation
npm i vue
14. Nodemon
Nodemon is a utility that monitors changes in your source and automatically restarts your server. Docs: Nodemon Documentation
npm i -D nodemon
15. Babel
Babel is a JavaScript compiler that lets you use next generation JavaScript, today. Docs: Babel Documentation
npm i -D @babel/core @babel/cli
16. TypeScript
TypeScript adds optional static typing to JavaScript, enhancing code quality and understandability. Docs: TypeScript Documentation
npm i -D typescript
17. GraphQL
GraphQL is a query language for APIs and a runtime for executing those queries. Docs: GraphQL Documentation
npm i graphql
18. Tailwind CSS
Tailwind CSS is a utility-first CSS framework for rapidly building custom designs. Docs: Tailwind Documentation
npm i -D tailwindcss postcss autoprefixer
19. Electron
Electron lets you build cross-platform desktop apps with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. Docs: Electron Documentation
npm i -D electron
20. Puppeteer
Puppeteer is a Node library which provides a high-level API to control headless Chrome or Chromium. Docs: Puppeteer Documentation
npm i puppeteer
21. ESLint
ESLint statically analyzes your code to quickly find problems. Docs: ESLint Documentation
npm i -D eslint
22. Svelte
Svelte is a radical approach to building user interfaces, where the work happens at build time. Docs: Svelte Documentation
npm i svelte
23. Yarn
Yarn is a fast, reliable, and secure dependency management tool. Docs: Yarn Documentation
npm i -g yarn
24. Parcel
Parcel is a web application bundler with zero configuration. Docs: Parcel Documentation
npm i -D parcel
25. D3.js
D3.js is a library for producing dynamic, interactive data visualizations in web browsers. Docs: D3 Documentation
npm i d3
26. Three.js
Three.js is a library and API used to create and display animated 3D graphics in a web browser. Docs: Three.js Documentation
npm i three
27. Gatsby
Gatsby is a React-based, GraphQL powered, static site generator. Docs: Gatsby Documentation
npm i gatsby react react-dom
28. Chakra UI
Chakra UI is a simple, modular and accessible component library for React. Docs: Chakra UI Documentation
npm i @chakra-ui/react @emotion/react @emotion/styled framer-motion
29. Cypress
Cypress is a next generation front end testing tool built for the modern web. Docs: Cypress Documentation
npm i -D cypress
30. React Router
React Router is a collection of navigational components that compose declaratively with your application. Docs: React Router Documentation
npm i react-router-dom
31. MobX
MobX is a simple, scalable state management solution. Docs: MobX Documentation
npm i mobx mobx-react-lite
32. Vuetify
Vuetify is a Vue UI Library with handcrafted Material Components. Docs: Vuetify Documentation
npm i vuetify
33. RxJS
RxJS is a library for reactive programming using Observables. Docs: RxJS Documentation
npm i rxjs
34. Zustand
Zustand is a small, fast and scalable state-management solution using simplified flux principles. Docs: Zustand Documentation
npm i zustand
35. Ant Design
Ant Design is an enterprise-class UI design language and React UI library. Docs: Ant Design Documentation
npm i antd
36. Material-UI
Material-UI offers React components following Material Design guidelines. Docs: MUI Documentation
npm i @mui/material @emotion/react @emotion/styled
37. Formik
Formik is a popular form library for React and React Native. Docs: Formik Documentation
npm i formik yup
38. Firebase
Firebase provides a comprehensive suite of tools for building and managing powerful apps. Docs: Firebase Documentation
npm i firebase
39. Styled-components
Styled-components allows you to write actual CSS code to style your components in React. Docs: Styled-components Documentation
npm i styled-components
40. Prettier
Prettier is an opinionated code formatter that enforces a consistent style. Docs: Prettier Documentation
npm i -D prettier
41. Bootstrap
Bootstrap is a popular HTML, CSS, and JS library for responsive, mobile-first projects. Docs: Bootstrap Documentation
npm i bootstrap
42. Feathers
Feathers is a lightweight web-framework for creating real-time applications and REST APIs using JavaScript or TypeScript. Docs: Feathers Documentation
npm i @feathersjs/feathers
43. Strapi
Strapi is an open-source headless CMS based on Node.js. Docs: Strapi Documentation
npx create-strapi-app@latest my-project
44. Quasar
Quasar can build SPA, SSR, PWA, Mobile, and Electron apps from the same codebase. Docs: Quasar Documentation
npm i -g @quasar/cli
45. Nuxt.js
Nuxt.js is an intuitive Vue framework that simplifies universal or single page Vue apps. Docs: Nuxt Documentation
npm i nuxt
46. VueX
VueX is a state management pattern + library for Vue.js applications. Docs: VueX Documentation
npm i vuex
47. Storybook
Storybook is a tool for developing UI components in isolation for React, Vue, and Angular. Docs: Storybook Documentation
npx storybook@latest init
48. Apollo Client
Apollo Client manages local and remote data with GraphQL. Docs: Apollo Client Documentation
npm i @apollo/client graphql
49. Sass
Sass is a preprocessor scripting language that is compiled into CSS. Docs: Sass Documentation
npm i -D sass
50. GreenSock (GSAP)
GreenSock (GSAP) is a robust JavaScript toolset for animations. Docs: GSAP Documentation
npm i gsap
51. Express
Express is a minimalist and flexible Node.js web application framework. Docs: Express Documentation
npm i express
