React and Vue are both great, well-supported libraries. I'd personally recommend React, especially as someone new to frontend development, in part because React

React and Vue are both great, well-supported libraries. I'd personally recommend React, especially as someone new to frontend development, in part because React is much more broadly used and as a result it's often easier to google for errors/suggestions/help. You don't need a framework for "backend glue" necessarily - I prefer not to use one at all. If your app is communicating w/ your backend through REST/graphql and returning JSON, the client logic to query the server is really simple - just query your backend endpoint using a library like fetch or axios and get your data back. Your "layer" can just be a .js file that contains your queries.