5 essential JavaScript tools for 2018

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Another year has ended and the tooling landscape has become simultaneously more exciting and complex. It seems that every month there’s a new post about the convoluted and intimidating nature of the JavaScript tooling ecosystem. 

There are countless new libraries, frameworks, plugins, build-related tools, and so much more, released every month, each claiming to help you improve your productivity or solve a specific development problem.

To start the year off right, we’ve done the legwork for you, weeding through 12 months worth of new releases and updates to bring you five of the newest, most practical and exciting options for JavaScript coders, designers and full-stack developers.

01. KUTE.js
http://thednp.github.io/kute.js
JavaScript animation engine with performance as its primary feature. This one grabs your attention immediately due to the gorgeous and super-smooth animation on the home page. The API looks elegant and well worth trying out.

02. Timeline.js
https://ilkeryilmaz.github.io/timelinejs
A jQuery plugin with a twist on the carousel component, for the specific use case of creating a carousel timeline (ie a slider that progresses based on chronological points) with lots of visual and functional customisation options.

Tools like Timeline.js can revolutionise the way you develop with JavaScript in 2018

03. SweetAlert2
https://limonte.github.io/sweetalert2
Fork of the original SweetAlert, this is a replacement for native JavaScript popups like 'alert()' and 'confirm()'. The modals are attractive, responsive, customisable, and accessible.

04. Muuri
https://haltu.github.io/muuri
JavaScript API for responsive, sortable, filterable, and drag-and-drop Masonry/Packery-style grid layouts. The demos are really nice and there are lots of options available to customise the grid for different layout types.

05. Infinite Scroll
https://infinite-scroll.com
Unlike most of the rest of this list, this is an old tool but it’s been rewritten for version 3. New version includes URL changes while scrolling, no jQuery dependency, and lots of optional settings via a clean API.

Want to learn more about JavaScript? Full-stack JavaScript developer Wes Bos will be going through what's new in JavaScript at our own web design event, Generate New York, on 25-27 April 2018. You can view the full lineup in all its glory, and book your tickets now, at generateconf.com. We can't wait to see you there!

Join at to find out what's new in the world of JavaScript

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