--- title: "Trend Talks: Front End Development · Appnovation" url: "https://www.appnovation.com/insights/trend-talks-front-end-development" description: "Five front-end development trends the community was talking about in 2019, from moving beyond CSS-in-JS libraries to new tooling." --- Article # Trend Talks: Front End Development [![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ey850001/production/f19d29fd30e3e4d3e07d971ea644d23a0c414afb-68x68.png?w=68&auto=format) Justin Tsang Team Lead](/people/justin-tsang.md) Mar 27, 2019 2 min read ![Trend Talks: Front End Development](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ey850001/production/f6d0f3cde1c0de58d3f967bce483a7a17f6abcfd-1884x600.jpg?w=1400&auto=format) It's still early into 2019, and it looks like a promising year for the growth of front-end programming. In this post, I'll list out 5 things I've been reading up on recently and seeing the community talk about. **1\. Moving Away From Javascript Libraries in CSS Frameworks** ​ Bootstrap v5 is on its way to get rid of dependancy of jQuery. Cleaner and less bloated javascript. Interesting Readings: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19147466 (opens in new window)](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19147466) [https://dev.to/winduptoy/a-javascript-free-frontend-2d3e (opens in new window)](https://dev.to/winduptoy/a-javascript-free-frontend-2d3e) **2\. CSS Animations** ​ I have seen more and more tutorials and awesome examples on the web of CSS only animations and creative CSS drawings. Built with combinations of border-radius, box-shadow, transform, linear-gradient, radial-gradients, and overflow we are so close to making complex designs easier. Interesting Read: [http://diana-adrianne.com/how/ (opens in new window)](http://diana-adrianne.com/how/) Examples: [https://codepen.io/joshbader/full/MZMzjr (opens in new window)](https://codepen.io/joshbader/full/MZMzjr) [https://codepen.io/ivorjetski/pen/xMJoYO (opens in new window)](https://codepen.io/ivorjetski/pen/xMJoYO) **3\. Grid vs Flexbox** ​ Source: [css-tricks.com (opens in new window)](https://css-tricks.com/super-power-grid-components-with-css-custom-properties/) Instead of putting them against each other we are moving towards a more co-existing relationship. Knowing when to use each of them is where we want to be. Interesting Readings: [https://css-irl.info/to-grid-or-to-flex/ (opens in new window)](https://css-irl.info/to-grid-or-to-flex/) [https://vgpena.github.io/using-css-grid-the-right-way/ (opens in new window)](https://vgpena.github.io/using-css-grid-the-right-way/) [https://css-tricks.com/quick-whats-the-difference-between-flexbox-and-grid/ (opens in new window)](https://css-tricks.com/quick-whats-the-difference-between-flexbox-and-grid/) **4\. The Rise of Vue.js with React and Angular Still At It** ​ React still has a much larger share of the market, but Vue.js is still rise and certainly shows no sign of stopping. In fact, Vue has already overtaken its rival for certain metrics such as total GitHub stars. Interesting Read: [https://2018.stateofjs.com/front-end-frameworks/overview/ (opens in new window)](https://2018.stateofjs.com/front-end-frameworks/overview/) **5\. CSS Variables** Where has this been and its progress. I've been waiting for this and have been using SASS and other processors to achieve this. Interesting Reading: [https://codyhouse.co/blog/post/how-to-combine-sass-color-functions-and-css-variables (opens in new window)](https://codyhouse.co/blog/post/how-to-combine-sass-color-functions-and-css-variables) [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Using\_CSS\_custom\_properties (opens in new window)](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Using_CSS_custom_properties) [![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ey850001/production/f19d29fd30e3e4d3e07d971ea644d23a0c414afb-68x68.png?w=68&auto=format) Justin Tsang Team Lead · Appnovation](/people/justin-tsang.md) ## Keep reading [![What is Sovereign AI](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ey850001/production/a5889abdd5e80376912546622e046e3fbef234b4-2496x1664.png?w=640&auto=format)](/insights/what-is-open-source-sovereign-ai.md) Article · 7 min AI ### [What Is Open Source, Sovereign AI?](/insights/what-is-open-source-sovereign-ai.md) Every company is encouraging more AI, and almost every AI bill is climbing. Sovereign AI is about two kinds of control: over your data and over your costs. Here's why open source sits at its foundation. [Iain MacNeil](/people/iain-macneil.md) Article [![AI-first experience design](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ey850001/production/8bbc2418e87924ef10f36115478a2e10d5bed95e-1584x624.jpg?w=640&auto=format)](/insights/how-build-ai-first-experience-without-throwing-out-everything-youve-already-built.md) Article · 6 min AI Sep 10, 2026 ### [How to Build an AI-First Experience Without Throwing Out Everything You've Already Built](/insights/how-build-ai-first-experience-without-throwing-out-everything-youve-already-built.md) Users now expect a direct answer, not a list of links to click through. Here's how organizations can layer an AI-First experience onto their existing website or app, in weeks rather than years. [Andrew Douglas](/people/andrew-douglas.md) Article [![What Becomes Possible When AI Can Read All the Data](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ey850001/production/c28ab0bd26753421ee42937e13adc7a7f19b47f0-1296x510.jpg?w=640&auto=format)](/insights/what-becomes-possible-when-ai-can-read-all-data.md) Article · 4 min AI Sep 09, 2026 ### [What Becomes Possible When AI Can Read All the Data](/insights/what-becomes-possible-when-ai-can-read-all-data.md) Most of the world's data has never been analyzed, only sampled. AI changes that. How AI-ready data platforms unlock questions no one could ask before. [Appnovation](/people/appnovation.md) Article ## Get the thinking, *before everyone else.* One considered email a month. New essays, field notes from live engagements, and the occasional strong opinion. No noise.