I honestly don't know what to make of the JavaScript ecosystem. I know React is very popular. I find the tooling obtuse, though. Proponents seem to think bringing in npm, yarn, babel, and webpack into an existing stack isn't complex, but my experience with that process, though limited, tells me it carries enough complexity that anyone should think twice about using it for anything but the most demanding of projects. I think React is contributing to this notion that web pages are obsolete, and web apps are the new standard, and I think that trend is harmful. I fall back to the Principle of Least Power: if the problem you're solving can be addressed with something simpler, that's the way that will lead to the greatest success. React is powerful, but most often not needed.
Intercooler builds on JQuery, and creates a declarative language for front-end code that informs API design that retains simplicity while still providing a fast, modern UX. Check it out for your next project!