Question

I’m new to web development and don’t fully understand the role a js framework plays in an app. I’ve started with jQuery, but people have said I should try prototype.js or node.js for my project, which is a multiplayer strategy game.

Is it important to select a framework early on, and making sure it does everything you need so you don’t have to use multiple frameworks?

Answer 1

I’m new to web development and don’t fully understand the role a js
framework plays in an app

You are new but you are lucky!

Few years ago developers had really hard time working around cross browser issues in terms of CSS (still bit of it there), event handling, animations, DOM manipulation. You had to write differnet code for each browser quite often.

The JavaScript libraries came to life and solved the problem of developers, they do all the magic behind the scenes and you write the same code (almost always) to work in each browser. In other words, JavaScript libraries take it on their own to solve cross-browser issues by providing you with consistent set of functions to use for any browser.

Generally, JavaScript libraries take care of these or provide these options:

• Cross-browser issues handling
• Animation
• Custom dialogs and widgets
• Ability to write lesser code
• Specific selector engine
• Creation/Modification of DOM
• Event Handling
• Utility Functions
• AJAX

I’ve started with jQuery, but people have said I should try
prototype.js or node.js for my project, which is a multiplayer
strategy game.

Essentially they do the same thing (mentioned above), it is up to you to decide which one you would go for. I like jQuery personally since it is easy to start with and has CSS-Like selector mechanism.

Node.JS is completely different beast, unlike jQuery or Prototype which base on client-side JavaScript, node.js is server-side JavaScript.

Is it important to select a framework early on, and making sure it
does everything you need so you don’t have to use multiple frameworks?

It isn’t important unless you need it eg depending on your needs. Though I would personally suggest you to learn the JavaScript itself first so that when you come to a JavaScript library later, you should be able to make most of it.