Top 10 Back-End Frameworks for Web Development in 2022

As the world moves at a breakneck speed, websites and mobile apps are buying users’ interests at literally no cost. The duo are predominantly nestling on the World Wide Web and App Stores in a pursuit to increase the business visibility with widened customer reach.

Apparently, not all the web applications developed has that signature property that outshines businesses on search engines and opens the avenues of revenue.

This is where, the role of front-end and back-end frameworks comes in! For web development, the front-end and back-end are the stages where the UI/UX props are set. These frameworks helps designers to develop a seamless, rich, and interactive UI/UX.

The front-end frameworks manage the user experience, whereas the back-end frameworks facilitate an app to function. The back-end frameworks are the libraries of server-side languages that promote the server-side configuration of any app or website. There are a plethora of front-end and back-end frameworks available in the market to build a suitable and user-specific platform.

The back-end frameworks are the collection of server-side programming languages that are used in developing the back-end structure of a website and application. These back-end frameworks provide pre-developed components to build a dynamic web app. The back-end frameworks give a supportive hand to developers for web development to minimize the threshold while developing and configuring the elements from scratch.

Since back-end frameworks play a vital role in web development, therefore seeking the right framework while considering the project requirements can be quite an overwhelming experience. Therefore, to minimize the hustle while selecting the one for back-end development, we narrow down a list of top 10 back-end frameworks for you to cater to your business needs.

What are the types of backend frameworks?

When it comes to backend frameworks, they can generally be classified into two main types:

1. Client-side web frameworks: These frameworks primarily focus on an application’s user interface (UI). They are responsible for enhancing the user experience and ensuring the application is easy to use. Client-side frameworks typically handle tasks such as user interactions, rendering UI elements, and managing the presentation of data on the client side. They are commonly used for developing single-page applications (SPAs) and interactive web interfaces.

2. Server-side web frameworks: Server-side frameworks are designed to handle the backend functionalities of an application. They focus on tasks that are executed on the server, such as database management, server configuration, handling HTTP requests, and business logic implementation. Server-side frameworks are responsible for processing and generating dynamic content sent to the client. They often include features like routing, request handling, authentication, and data manipulation.

What are the top 10 back-end frameworks for web development in 2022?

The top 10 back-end frameworks for web development in 2022 include Ruby on Rails, Laravel, Django, Express.JS, Flask, CakePHP, ASP.Net Core, Spring Boot, Koa, and Phoenix. These frameworks offer various features and advantages, catering to different project requirements and preferences.

Top Back-End Frameworks To Use In 2022

1. Ruby on Rails

Ruby on Rails is an open-source server-side web app development framework. It is often termed ‘Rails’, and was introduced by David Heinemeier Hansson, under the MIT license. The primary and renowned users of Rails are Netflix, Zendesk, GitHub, Airbnb, Shopify, and Hulu.

Rails is used to design a faultless database table formation, the scaffolding of views, and migrations. To develop a dynamic web solution, Ruby can be effectively combined with CSS, JavaScript, and HTML. It is one of the prevalently used back-end frameworks, which includes rapid prototype development and MVPs, web platforms, and e-commerce solutions.

It is quite a convenient and easy-to-use framework as a feasible alternative for beginners. Rails had a huge and friendly community, along with that there are a number of study materials and tutorials are available that can help an individual to gain expertise in Ruby on Rails.

Features:

• Rails is based on MVC architecture that allows data separation from the presentation.
• It includes a database access library i.e. Active Record to simplify data handling in the database.
• It includes a host of libraries to simplify the coding.
• Can develop customized or search engine friendly URLs.
• Detailed error logs make it easier to debug the app.
• Reusable codes can be stored in the Components to modularize templates.

2. Laravel

Laravel is a PHP-based open-source web framework for Symfony-based web app development. It follows an MVC architecture to develop the back-end of the application and is introduced by Taylor Otwell. Laravel is often considered one of the best back-end frameworks for web app development. The renowned users of the Laravel framework are Deloitte, 6GAG, Bitpanda, MasterCard, Flutterwave, Razorpay, and Kmong.

The primary aim of the laravel web development framework is to formulate the process of upgrading fun and single. It enables developers to design a customized solution for their web apps. It has a huge template system and brilliant documentation to make it easier for beginners to learn and have a good grasp of the back-end programming tool.

Laravel is equipped with a Blade templating engine. It is a pre-installed engine, quite powerful, and lightweight which assists developers to smoothen the development process with its excellent layouts. It supports developers to design a fascinating layout by using the content seeding feature.

Features:

• It has Artisan, as an in-built command-line tool that automates the tedious repetitive programming process.
• It offers robust app security with Bcrypt Hashing Algorithm to deduce an encrypted password.
• It promotes lightweight built-in templates to design layouts and produce content.
• It supports developers to use eloquent ORM to write database queries using PHP syntax without writing SQL codes.
• It provides MVC architecture to provide multiple functionalities, promotes scalability, security, and better performance.

3. Django

Django is a Python-based high-level back-end framework where developers can find almost everything i.e. pre-coded modules. It is an open-source framework that helps to build a database-driven, complex yet interactive websites. It is developed by Adrian Holobaty and Simon Willon and is maintained by Django Software Foundation in the USA. The renowned users of the Django framework are DropBox, Washington Post, YouTube, Disqus, Spotify, Pinterest, and National Geographic.

The Django framework eliminates the requirement of installing and maintaining the third-party plugins as everything in the framework functions together. It is the best back-end framework based on the Python programming language which allows easy customization and scalability.

Django has massive community support and activities that an entire website is allotted to third-party packages that are designed in Django to do a variety of activities. It is one of the most popular back-end frameworks and provides a variety of functionality, such as REST API support.

Features:

• It enables rapid web app development with less code writing.
• It provides a top-quality user authentication system to maintain the platform’s security.
• It is scalable in nature and enables the platform to avail flexibility to quickly switch from small to large-scale applications.
• Developers can utilize the packages, such as site maps, RSS feeds, etc. to fasten the development process.
• It is a highly versatile framework where developers can build applications for different domains.

4. Express.JS

Express.JS is a Node.JS web app framework and is often termed Express for building APIs and online applications. It is an open-source framework developed by T.J. Holowaychuk, Strongloop, and others, and is available under an MIT license. The renowned users of Express.JS or Express framework are Twitter, Accenture, Myntra, Wix.com, PayPal, Uber, IBM, and MySpace.

Express.JS framework supports the development of single-page, multi-page, and hybrid web apps. It is also considered one of the top back-end frameworks for building RESTful APIs and web apps. It provides a thin layer of primary web app characteristics and is easy to build a powerful and feature-rich API with different HTTP services and accessible middleware.

It is equipped with caching feature, which extends its support to developers, as they don’t require to execute the codes repeatedly. It supports quicker web page loading than ever. It can easily get along with MongoDB, NoSQL Database, Node.JS, and Angular.JS to cater to multiple requests such as GET, PUT, POST, and DELETE.

Features:

• It supports faster server-side development by eliminating the demand of writing codes repeatedly.
• It supports middleware that is responsible for the systematic organization of different functions.
• It enables a highly advanced routing mechanism that helps to retain the webpages state just with its URL.
• It enables template engines that support developers to build dynamic web page content by building server-side HTML templates.
• It ensures an easy debugging process by pinpointing the exact part of the web application.

5. Flask

Flask is a Python programming language-based back-end framework that is simple to learn and implement. It does not require any specific library or tool, hence it is described as a micro-framework. It is developed by Armin Ronacher. The renowned users of the Flask back-end framework are Reddit, Netflix, Trivago, Gorgias, Patreon, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.

It offers support for Jinja2 templating, secure cookies, RESTful API designing, and Unit Testing. It is quite a lightweight framework and suitable for small project development. Additionally, it does not possess a data abstraction layer, form validation, and other components where third-party libraries serve a definite purpose.

It supports an extension to introduce features and utilities for dynamic web app development. It is a versatile framework that is used for both small and large-scale websites and apps. It also supports custom-coded and extension modules to enhance app features, as if they were developed within Flask.

Features:

• It uses minimal resources and is easy to set up and use.
• Extensions are available to add desired features and allow coherent and well-designed APIs.
• Flask supports multiple extensions to enhance the functionality of the project.
• It includes Unicode support and enables rapid web and app prototyping.
• It provides integrated support for unit testing.

6. CakePHP

CakePHP is an open-source back-end framework, based on an MVC architecture. It provides a foundation for developers to build a web app. It is a free-to-use framework, available under the MIT license. The renowned users of the CakePHP framework are Mapme, Education Unlimited, and Followmy.tv.

CakePHP allows developers to directly access Core and App directories while dealing with different standard classes of PHP. As a result, it becomes easier for developers to easily define the functions of each class. It has various libraries to perform a standard set of tasks.

This back-end framework is suitable for developing a quick prototype. It is a suitable choice for developing a secure, safe, and effective web solution. CakePHP is equipped with built-in security tools which help to eliminate general security issues, such as CSRF attacks, XSS attacks, and SQL injection.

Features:

• It is a user-friendly framework that ensures easy customization and development of the website with the assistance of a template editor.
• The advanced tools of CakePHP make the complex structure simple and ultimately support website development.
• It supports Unit Testing and provides the necessary skills to ensure it offers the best functionality.
• It is one of the suitable frameworks to develop a qualitative app at an affordable budget.

7. ASP.Net Core

ASP.Net Core is the latest version of the ASP.Net web development framework based on the .Net platform. It is an open-source, cross-platform back-end framework for developing cloud-based apps, such as IoT apps, web apps, and mobile back-ends. The apps can run on the cloud and on-premises as well. The renowned users of ASP.Net Core are, StackOverflow, GoDaddy, Dell, Ancestry.com, Diply, and Visual Studio.

ASP.Net Core is a modular framework that runs over the .Net framework across on .Net Core and Windows. It is the successor of ASP (Active Server Pages) programming language which enhances flexibility. It is available with additional tools and libraries for developing things for web apps and websites.

The ASP.Net developers require minimum time for app development and the process is cost-effective as well. It requires lesser coding and makes it convenient to build the solution in fewer statements, which requires less development time for back-end development. It runs on .Net Core, which supports multiple versions of the app to run simultaneously.

Features:

• It supports containers and cross-platform app development.
• It allows developers to use asynchronous programming patterns.
• The availability of the Kestrel web server and ASP.Net Core makes ASP.Net the most agile web app framework.
• It is language-independent, so developers can use different languages, like C#.
• Supports web socket to build a client-server-based app, which establishes two-way communication with the browser.

8. Spring Boot

Spring Boot is an extension of the existing and expansive Spring back-end framework. It is an open-source and reliable server app framework based on Java to simplify the work on micro-services. It is introduced by Pivotal Software Inc. and supports both traditional WAR apps and standalone Java apps. The renowned users of Spring Boot are CRED, Udemy, Trivago, Intuit, and Hepsiburada.

It becomes easier for developers to use Spring Boot for backend web development because it omits various configuration overheads, unlike the Spring framework. It provides numerous valuable functionalities, such as caching, monitoring, security, configuration management, transaction management, etc.

Spring Boot simplifies the development and testing of Java-based apps and ensures default settings for Integration and Unit Testing. It supports developers in increasing overall efficiency during the development phase. It is equipped with a great number of plugins, which gives a free hand to developers to work conveniently with built-in databases and in-memory databases.

Features:

• Spring and third-party frameworks get configured automatically.
• It is available with a pre-built Jetty, Tomcat, and Undertow application server, which doesn’t require any additional installation to use.
• The embedded servers provide quicker and more efficient deployments; resulting in short restart time.
• The Starter Dependencies provide opinionated dependencies design to simplify the build configuration.

9. Koa

Koa is a JavaScript-based Node.JS web development framework, developed by the team of Express framework. It aims to provide a smaller, expressive, and robust foundation for web apps and APIs. The renowned users of the Koa.JS back-end framework are Pubu, Bulb, Clovis, Paralect, and GAPO.

It uses asynchronous functions to eliminate call-backs and effectively enhances error management. Koa doesn’t include any middleware in its core. However, it includes an effective collection of methods that fasten and eases the server-making process.

Koa.JS is different from other Node.JS frameworks, as it has been developed on ECMAScript 2015 and ECMAScript 6 (ES 6). These scripts ease the complex app development by presenting new modules and classes. It uses ECMAScript 6 generators to simplify synchronous programming and manages control flow. These generators can also be used as a function to control code execution.

Features:

• It has smaller footprints, which help developers to write better and thinner middleware.
• Uses ES 6 generator to streamline synchronous programming and supports both downstream and upstream control flow.
• Uses middleware efficiently to simplify and improve error handling.
• It supports developers’ use of ‘Context’ to encapsulate vanilla response and request objects into a single object.

10. Phoenix

Phoenix is a web development framework written in the Elixir programming language. It is a reliable backend framework for web apps. It is quite a similar framework to other MVC frameworks, like Django and Ruby on Rails. It functions with Erlang’s Virtual Machine and uses a server-side MVC structure. The renowned users of Phoenix’s back-end framework are Financial Times, Fontstore, Inverse, Lonely Planet, Bet 365, and PepsiCo eCommerce.

It is based on the Cowboy Erlang framework and Plug library to facilitate the development of a scalable and high-performing application. Cowboy server enables request/response functionality, and real-time external client communication through language channel features and Websockets.

The Elixir syntax enhances the development pace, additionally enables clean and decipherable code writing. It offers integrated tools with an active dashboard feature. The developers can gain instant insights on Erlang VM capabilities to tackle multiple connections with the tooling features of Elixir.

Features:

• It delivers built-in support which makes it the perfect framework for real-time web app development.
• It is written in a functional programming language, which allows the writing of reliable, maintainable, and easy-to-test codes.
• Usage of Erlang VM feature helps to integrate the real-time system and ready-made scaling.
• It helps to enhance productivity and also supports customization.

Conclusion

The details of the top 10 back-end frameworks will help you to make the right choice for your project. As the selection of framework is influenced by multiple parameters, such as expertise, budget, project complexity, database, access of code, community support, etc. Additionally, consider the tool you opt for, is updated frequently to ensure that it is capable of dealing with common and new attacks as well.

So, if you are exploring such an expert company or developers in any of the above-mentioned back-end frameworks for your project, then you can connect with Codiant for a free consultation. Our experts can help you validate your project idea by selecting the right back-end web development framework.