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As a backend developer, where do I even start with frontend? Feeling major choice paralysis (feddit.dk)

submitted 6 days ago by SorteKanin@feddit.dk to c/webdev@programming.dev

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I'm an experienced backend developer. To me, the backend world seems super simple compared to the frontend world.

It seems like there are a million options and I don't have the experience to say what's good and what's not. I'm hit with major choice paralysis, basically.

I don't have any special requirements - I "just" want to build a pretty standard, responsive, modern-looking UI. Ideally without too much boilerplate, in a framework that "feels good", in a way that might at some point attract other contributors as well, if I get to the point of open sourcing.

Of course I could just reach for the most popular thing i.e. React, but that doesn't seem to be the "hip" thing to use nowadays (or maybe I'm wrong? What do I know, I'm a backend dev).

But even if I choose a framework, there's a million other libraries out there to choose as well. For instance, which UI library to choose? What about observability and state management and authentication and so on?

Sorry if this is a bit ranty. I am honestly just looking for an experienced frontend developer to point me in some direction (i.e. some set of frameworks/libraries; a "stack" if you will), so I can get out of this choice paralysis.

What would be your go-to stack for a new frontend project today?

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[–] scientuslatens 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

The backend you are working on can also help narrow down what front end you may want to try. I am a “full-stack” .NET (i.e. I do backend but I’m stubborn enough to touch and make choices on our front end vs other members on my team). Naturally, our apps are ASP.NET MVC/Razor pages, and I’ve dragged a few things over to Blazor for some of our new apps. One could still add vanilla JS / Browser APIs on top of this and cover most needs. Bootstrap consider what you need to keep you app mobile-friendly (usually described as “responsive”), and can be used with just data- attributes.

My opinion is the front end should be quick and should also be light on business logic. Then you are just making http requests for data retrieval or requesting the server to do something. Then you can break out your backend methods/services to handle your data persistence > business logic > shaping the results for what your front end needs

Sorry that got long TL;DR see what front end usually seems paired with your backend and start there. For example, try .NET/ASP.NET Core

[–] SorteKanin@feddit.dk 3 points 6 days ago (2 children)

My backend is in Rust - I've definitely considered something like Dioxus, but I fear that the Rust ecosystem is not ripe for frontend still. But I may be wrong. I've tried Yew before and it was "okay" but definitely not nice.

So my initial instinct is to stick with the JS/TS frameworks.

[–] scientuslatens 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

That seem reasonable. Don’t add more to learn before you know you need it. Is there an http server that is built in to Rust?

[–] SorteKanin@feddit.dk 2 points 5 days ago

I'm very experienced with Rust and yea there's quite a few web server frameworks available actually. Axum is the prime choice.

[–] PokerChips@programming.dev 2 points 6 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Since you mentioned Rust is your backend, take a gander at Leptos. I'll admit that i'm not quite versed in it yet but what I'm doing is learning React and building my apps on React while also learning Leptos.

Leotos takes heavily after React but isn't actually like React. I know that doesn't make much since so you will have to read the docs but it does seem to be a more efficient FE.

And to be clear, I absolutely hold my nose while working with React as that was actually my last choice of the big 4 front ends but since my end goal is Leptos and documentation and information online is widespread, it's something I can live with

EDIT:

I am mistaken. Leptos takes after AwesomeJS, not react.

[–] SorteKanin@feddit.dk 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I've considered it yea, but again, I just feel the ecosystem isn't there yet. It really saddens me, cause WebAssembly is such a cool idea, but the dominance of JavaScript/TypeScript on the web is just too much. The amount of developers and tools and libraries for JS/TS on the web is just immense compared to what you have with Rust, and I don't really feel like reinventing the wheel.

[–] PokerChips@programming.dev 2 points 6 days ago

Respectable response. This helps me with my decision making too.