2016 was a full year for JavaScript, as the language and its frameworks marched forward. 2017 will likely be similar, with many exciting changes in store.
The framework with the most momentum growth is vue.js. In 2016, creator Evan You started working on it full-time and released version 2.0 in September. The community often speaks of Vue as a down-to-earth alternative to the status quo of JavaScript frameworks.
For 2017, You hopes the momentum continues and laid out plans for the new year, including better testing and improving the developer experience. Vue is also working on native rendering solution and is now the JavaScript runtime for Alibaba's weex mobile cross-platform framework.
Browser-based React was relatively quiet in 2016. Version 15.0 was released in April, the only such major upgrade, though there were consistent minor updates throughout the year. In 2017, we'll start to hear more about React Fiber, which is described as an "ongoing reimplementation of React's core algorithm". Dan Abramov says that "there is still quite a bit of work to do", but that it should land in version 16.0 or 17.0 of React.
Much of the React team's work is on getting Fiber out the door in 2017, but it's a significant change. Fiber is a "complete rewrite of React", although the goal is to "maintain backwards compatibility wherever possible". Once Fiber is in place, Facebook hopes to enable "web apps with 60 fps and animations".
For Angular, 2016 was filled with uncertainty. As the weeks ticked off, Angular 2 seemed to grow, encompassing more use cases and always just out of reach. Finally released in September, it landed as one of the most complete platforms developers could choose.
On the roadmap for 2017 is the release of Angular 4. Technically it will include breaking changes, but it will not be the same sort of drastic change as 1 to 2. As developers become more familiar and comfortable with the Angular 2 platform and TypeScript, 2017 should see maturation and growth of Angular 2 and its ecosystem.
Not left behind, Angular 1 landed versions 1.5 and 1.6, steadily adding to one of the most popular frameworks. Plans for 2017 are to continue steady work on 1.6.x.
