8 Reasons to Use JavaScript Libraries in Project Management Apps

Software solutions help project managers to get ultimate control over all project stages and deliver results without delays. Since the war against the COVID-19 pandemic is not over yet, many organizations around the world adhere to remote working and pay for technologies that allow project managers to collaborate with colleagues and keep projects on track from anywhere. According to Statista, this year enterprise software expenditures are expected to increase by 13.2% compared to 2020 and reach approximately 599 bln US dollars worldwide.

While it is hard to argue with the necessity to use software applications for effective project management, businesses frequently face a serious problem of choice: buying out-of-the-box software, creating their own custom solution from scratch, or embedding a JavaScript component?

In this article, let us consider the reasons to opt for custom project management solutions built with the help of JavaScript libraries.

1. Costly and obscure ready-made software

With numerous unquestionable merits, off-the-shelf project management software can cause a lot of problems. Such products can be quite expensive and often lack the flexibility to meet all project requirements. Capterra’s latest PM software market research provides interesting insights related to challenges experienced with PM tools. For example, project teams frequently have to deal with such negative factors as the overall complexity of tools, many unused features, integration issues, and more.

Source: Capterra Project Management User Survey 2021

In light of these facts, it seems reasonable to make efforts to build your own application. That is why many companies prefer to invest in the development of their own project management tools.

2. Faster implementation of complex functionalities

The State of Project Management 2021 annual report conducted by Wellingtone says that businesses often suffer from poor resource management. Creating advanced functionalities from scratch to deal with management challenges is a painstaking and time consuming task. Meanwhile, JavaScript components provide a wide range of useful built-in features such as task assignment, resource allocation, progress tracking, work time estimation, reporting, and much more. There are even specialized libraries like a JavaScript Scheduler or Gantt chart, which can serve as the foundation for the whole application. Therefore, if you want to save time and avoid unnecessary bugs, you’d better use JavaScript components for such undertakings.

Example of a JavaScript Scheduler (Timeline view) by DHTMLX

3. High performance and scalability

When working on a project management app, it is important to ensure that the final product operates well with large amounts of information without any performance deteriorations. It is one of the key metrics for a good user experience. JavaScript libraries usually come with special techniques such as smart rendering and dynamic loading that allow conveniently working with huge projects. Moreover, performant JS components can give you the scalability that you need to adjust your application for managing more complex business processes with time.

4. Personalized approach to user experience

Another important thing is customizability. Business-oriented JavaScript libraries are notable for rich and flexible APIs that enable developers to modify each and every element of the user interface. API methods and properties make it possible to determine the system’s behavior. Event listeners ensure that an app is fully interactive. Besides, you can easily adjust the appearance of JavaScript components via CSS to conform to your brand guidelines.

5. Compatibility with popular JS frameworks and back-end technologies

Building a web application more and more often involves the use of JavaScript frameworks rather than vanilla JS. When talking about the most popular framework options, many developers will certainly mention the "Big Three" - React, Angular, and Vue. But new names also appear on the JavaScript landscape. Responders of the 2021 Developer Survey named Svelte the most loved front-end tool.

JS frameworks offer ready-to-use code for performing standard programming tasks much faster, thereby giving you more time for working on complex aspects of your project. And the great thing is that JS libraries can be seamlessly integrated into applications based on popular frameworks. Apart from that, modern JS libraries rely on REST API and can be used alongside any back-end technology such as Node.js, PHP, Ruby on Rails, ASP.NET, etc.

6. Exporting options

It is very convenient for project managers to have important project data at hand. For instance, it may be needed to present printed project workflow or upcoming business activities at meetings or send the information by email. That is why JavaScript project management libraries allow converting data into such formats as PDF, PNG, Excel, etc. to handle projects more effectively.

It can also be very helpful to make your app compatible with Microsoft Project, since it is a widely-used project management instrument. This feature is supported by some libraries such as DHTMLX JavaScript Gantt chart.

Example of a JavaScript Gantt chart by DHTMLX

7. Documentation and demos

A developer-friendly JavaScript library for project management usually comes with detailed and actively maintained documentation and demo materials. The benefits of good documentation are undeniable. It commonly provides guides, tutorials, API references, and other useful information that make it much easier to integrate necessary functions into your project. Code samples give you a clear idea of how to make the most of the library’s feature set.

8. Technical support & updates

No matter how skilled you are at JavaScript, at some point you will certainly require technical assistance. When using JS libraries, you can count on the help of technical specialists who have a profound knowledge of the tool and can quickly give you helpful recommendations on any questions. One more great advantage of JavaScript components is that they are regularly provided with bug fixes and updates enabling you to improve the quality of your application.

Final words

JavaScript libraries allow creating feature-rich project management applications that comply with your requirements faster. Custom solutions based on JS libraries can be a good alternative to costly prepackaged software. Such tools enable you to fully realize your vision in terms of functionality and design without any restrictions.