JavaScript DOM Manipulation Performance : Comparing Vanilla JavaScript and Leading JavaScript Front-end Frameworks

Abstract: Background. Websites of 2020 are often feature rich and highly interactive applications. JavaScript is a popular programming language for the web, with many frameworks available. A common denominator for highly interactive web applications is the need for efficient methods of manipulating the Document Object Model to enable a solid user experience. Objectives. This study compares Vanilla JavaScript and the JavaScript frameworks Angular, React and Vue.js in regards to DOM performance, DOM manipulation methodology and application size. Methods. A literature study was conducted to compare the DOM manipulation methodologies of Vanilla JavaScript and the selected frameworks. An experiment was conducted where test applications was created using Vanilla JavaScript and the selected frameworks. These applications were used as base for comparing application size and for comparison tests of DOM performance related metrics using Google Chrome and Firefox. Results. In regards to DOM manipulation methodology, there is a distinct difference between Vanilla JavaScript and the selected frameworks. In Vanilla JavaScript DOM manipulation is handled by direct interaction with the DOM interface. When using the selected frameworks the actual interaction with the DOM interface is abstracted away from the developer and handled by the framework. While React and Vue.js both have implemented a Virtual DOM to optimize DOM interactions, Angular has implemented Incremental DOM. Vanilla JavaScript had the best DOM performance in all tests and the smallest application size. Amongst the frameworks React had the best DOM performance, Angular performed close to React in nearly all test, and Vue.js was slightly slower in most tests. In nearly all tests the applications performed better in Google Chrome. Conclusions. Vanilla JavaScript and the selected frameworks, and thereby their DOM manipulation methodologies, are all feasible alternatives for creating interactive web applications with high DOM performance. Tests indicate that Vanilla JavaScript and the selected frameworks achieves better DOM performance in Google Chrome compared to Firefox.