I know it's a pretty general question, but I was wondering what's everyones view on what are some of the best JS API's/Frameworks out there for a new online App? I'm still undecided if whether it will need to be responsive, or if I'll code a native version of the App but for now I'm just interested in learning about what my options are in regards to building an online App with JS. Access to database functions are very important, and I'm already a fan of Parse.com Thanks for any help.
As a rule of thumb, my answer is none... if you actually "need" a framework, you are probably using more javascript on your site than you should in the first place -- probably for goofy garbage that does NOTHING to enhance the functionality and instead drags your websites performance into the ninth ring of hell. Mind you, there are exceptions, but if you are making anything smaller than a full-blown application, frameworks for an INTERPRETED language that's being sent through a narrow pipe is one of the most DUMBASS decisions I've seen developers make in three and a half decades of writing software. For anything USEFUL, most of what people do with jQuery/Mootools/Prototype and their ilk would be smaller, cleaner and simpler WITHOUT the framework... and for anything else that it actually 'saves' effort on, 99% of it is stupid animated crap that has NO BUSINESS on a website in the first place!
I get what you are saying, but I'm interested in frameworks from the point of view of convenience, to save me from writing lots of code that do basic stuff, as in dealing with databases, tabs/scrolling lists etc. Obviously it's possible to go overboard with effects, but I'm not interested in doing that anyway.
To me, that's stuff that has no business being done client-side... unless you dip really heavily into the 'pageloads are evil' kool-aid and/or aren't practicing minimalist markup with separation of presentation from content to make the page work as fast without scripting assistance as it would with.
jQuery is the one and only framework/library that I work with everyday. There is no other need for frameworks, although you can find tons out there (ex: mootools), some even relying on jQuery as a dependency...