How to decide which framework?

[skid2964]

Do some of you just use the same framework on all sites? even simple ones?
If not, what dictates which framework for which type of website?

My basic understanding is:
blog type site: WordPress
Simple: HTML/Bootstrap
Simple maybe turning into complex later: PHP framework like CodeIgniter
Very complex: ReactJS, Laravel or Angular?

I'm wanting to learn the latest and have initiated tutorials on several. For example, I started learning ReactJS and wondered if it was going to be overkill for simple sites?
Codeigniter looks like it may be a good universal way to develop, just not sure, need feedback....

[NickMNS]

Personally I don't like PHP so WordPress and PHP frameworks are out.
I find that Bootstrap is uselessly bloated, just learn css flex-box and you can do 95% of what Bootstrap offers (BS4 is built using flex-box).

Very complex: ReactJS, Laravel or Angular?

First Laravel is not an equivalent here, Laravel being PHP runs server side, whereas Angular and React are run clients side.

I don't think complexity comes into play here, the question is how much client side do you want/need to do for the given webpage/webapp. If all you are doing is serving a page with static information then you probably don't need to use and React/Angular or JS, stick with PHP (or what ever server side language). But if you want to build a webapp where the content is dynamic and constantly changing then you will need to use JS. Personally I prefer not to use any JS frameworks, just straight JS.

On the server I like Python, Flask or Bottle or some of the newer Async frameworks like Quart. I like coding in Python and it allows me to handle not just the web tasks but pretty much everything else, like the data manipulation / data science type tasks.

Another option to consider, NodeJS for the server, I don't have any experience with it but it is widely used, mostly in conjunction with React or Angular type applications (JS for both server and client side).

In the end no one can make this type of choice for you, it depends a lot on what you already know and are comfortable with and your willingness to spend time and frustration to learn a new language/framework.

[tangor]

@skid2964 ... Welcome to Webmasterworld!

Bleeding edge technology can be very intriguing, and find what makes sense to you ... but don't forget that ordinary pages display quite well and if you are in this for the money, put that content out there so it can start a revenue stream as soon as possible.

One can ALWAYS go back and update/rewrite.

Some require more interactive which suggests PHP, js, etc.

Some require hand holding which suggests a CMS ...

Some still prefer hand coding for complete control (using templates as required) and SSI for the "interactive" and site wide presentation.

The real question is learn the latest to what purpose?

Make a site?
Get a Job?
Rule the World? (okay, that's humor!)

Recent thread indicated that the best money is still in PERL... [webmasterworld.com...]

Find your comfort level and go from there!

[Betty2421]

Am I the only one not bothered so much about the technical side of things? I mean I use WordPress alright but my priority is to make sales. And since I found lots of code-free widgets to boost my sales and engagement, who cares about programming right?

If you are in the same boat, you could check out my profile description for some of these top widgets.

[brotherhood of LAN]

@Betty2421, you're not alone on that one, this is why Wordpress is so popular, but it doesn't do any harm to know or at least know of someone who can tweak the under-the-hood stuff.

@skid2964 I've learnt a little vuejs, what I'd say about those reactive libraries is be careful on using them on publicly available pages, as they can be difficult for search engine crawlers to understand. They're perfect for private pages (as in, behind an authentication wall) though. VueJS is quote popular among those libraries and is often compared to React.

Perhaps a path of lesser resistance for learning server & client side is to look at nodejs, since you're essentially using the language on both sides, which happens to also be fairly popular.