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Conclusion

W3.CSS - Frontend Framework
&
Node.js - Backend Framework


Rate your experience with the frameworks that you chose

The framework we chose for Front end Development was really helpful. It saved us a lot of time and typing which helped us keep our code clean and more readable.
We used Node.JS as our backend framework. It was very useful and reliable. In tandem with Node.js, we also used Express.js which made Node.js easier to use as a backend framework for our application.

Did they perform to your expectations?

We would say W3.CSS performed above our expectations as there are a lot of complex things like adding animations, effects, etc which would be hard to code in raw HTML/CSS especially for someone like us with very little experience in Web Development. However, it was possible to add to our website through the use of W3.CSS.
Yes, Node.js did perform to our expectations. Creating the routes and calling an API for our project was really easy using this backend framework. Also, parsing out the JSON format data from an API was straightforward using the built-in methods.

Were they difficult to install or configure?

No, it was very easy to install W3.CSS. There are two ways you can use them on your website. First, you can add a CDN (Content Delivery Network) link to your website's HTML (in the head tag) and you can access all the classes and features of that framework. The second way would be to download the source code and files from the website and linking it on your website through an internal link.
Node.JS is really easy to install and configure on your computer locally. You can also use Amazon's AWS Cloud9 or any other cloud based integrated development environment that lets you write your Node.js code. The framework Express.JS was easy to install using the npm package manager.

Was it easy to create the page(s) with it?

Yes, it was very easy to make pages with W3.CSS since the W3schools website has all the information on how the framework can be used to make better looking websites. Overall, it was easy to create pages using the frameworks.
Yes, it was easy to connect the API and parse the data to the front end using Node.js and Express.JS.

Was the learning curve steep compared with regular HTML/CSS/Javascript/PHP?

It was easier to learn how to use and implement framework compared to learning HTML/CSS/JavaScript since the frameworks are nothing but pre-defined snippets of code so if you have a good understanding of how those three languages work then it shouldn't take long for you to understand the concept of frameworks.
Learning Node.js was really easy. It was almost the same as other server side backend frameworks like Django and Flask. Also, using the Express.js framework was really helpful since it is a layer built on top of the Node.JS. It provides robust set of features to develop web applications.

Would you have done things differently in retrospect?

Node.js is a very popular server-side language in the tech industry. It is a platform built on a javascript runtime environment that excels in easily building fast and scalable applications. It is currently used among various tech giants such as Netflix, Uber, and Twitter. W3.CSS, although somewhat limited, is very easy to use and understand. It allowed us to create many effects that were adequate for our purposes. Our familiarity with Node.js and W3.CSS allowed us to use the two frameworks well enough to create a great looking web page. Thus, in retrospect we would not have done things differently for this project.

Did you regret your choice of frameworks?

No, we don't regret our choice of frameworks because we were familiar with the backend and frontend frameworks we chose so it was easy for us to use it.