JavaScript development has matured over recent years. Once a simple language used to script a few animations and user interactions, JavaScript applications now support a full range of tasks that were only possible with desktop applications a few years ago. There are numerous well-documented libraries and frameworks that make complicated applications manageable through a web browser.

No JavaScript library or framework does everything perfectly. Most libraries focus on improving a few key requirements for application development, such as DOM manipulation, data binding, animation, or graphics. Some focus on speed; others focus on cross-browser compatibility.

A successful JavaScript developer doesn't have to build an application from scratch using one library or raw JavaScript to make it work. By adding current libraries that work well together, the developer can speed up development and handle multiple browser types without having to worry about them.

In this...