If the term ‘Angular’ only conjures up images of Brad Pitt’s jawline, and ‘React’ is just something you do to your Facebook feed, you might have felt lost at last week’s Put it to the Panel event at Town Square.

Hosted by Aquent, Firebrand Talent and Vitamin T, the panel discussed the increasingly muddy waters of JavaScript development since the emergence of so many different and competing frameworks. Panelists from 24 Digital, TBWA, iflix and Y&R Group brought their expertise and experience together to provide real-world insights on how to approach the challenge of choosing the right technologies to learn and adopt from a personal and agency standpoint.

With the rise to prominence of frameworks Angular and React, backed by Google and Facebook, many job listings now come with framework-specific requirements. Increasingly, developers feel the need to pick a side and specialise. However, as Michael Zaporozhets of Y&R Group was quick to point out, more importance should be placed on finding developers with strong fundamentals who can adapt to new frameworks when needed.

This was echoed by the other panelists who emphasised the need to adopt different frameworks from project to project, meaning agencies and developers need to be agile. Despite that, there seemed to be more fondness for React than Angular, with Jason D’Souza of 24 Digital sharing his pain during early adoption of Angular before the framework developed. A fondness for Vue.js was also expressed and we sense it’s the preferred framework of the panel from a development point of view, but that more frequently React will be chosen due to the size of the project.

The night was a great networking session with many in the audience rushing the stage at the end of the talk to share anecdotes, challenge opinions and gain further insights from the panel.

Follow the Town Square LinkedIn page for updates and information on future events. If you’re interested in hosting an event at Town Square, contact Anna now.