Disclaimer: These libraries aren’t simply the biggest, most-starred JavaScript repositories. We hand-picked these with a focus on growth, documentation, completeness and decided to exclude libraries that are either backed by large corporations, are one-off POC projects or not open for contributers
Lax.JS
Created: March 2019
Stars: 6,000+
Forks: 270+
Link: https://github.com/alexfoxy/laxxx
Lax.js is a tiny (3kb) library, that creates a smooth animation when you scroll. Scroll animations are popular for many applications, including but not limited to one-site landing pages, product pages and even HTML5 games.
In many cases, these libraries are heavy and slow, so Lax.JS is a welcome differentiation to other, long-held staples in this area.
The project is somewhat active, at the moment of writing, the last commit was already one month ago, but there are a few feature requests and issues - time to jump in!
gitfolio
Created: May 2019
Stars: 3,700+
Forks: 280+
Link: https://github.com/imfunniee/gitfolio
Gitfolio is a beautiful personal page creator, powered by GitHub and Github Pages. The project will take the info of your GitHub account and create a personal portfolio page, similar to this one.
Apart from that, Gitfolio also allows you to publish a blog on your personal page, turning your GitHub-portfolio into a real personal site.
This project is under active development, commits are being pushed week-by-week, and there are a few issues up for grabs. Interesting for any front-end or JS dev.
nsfwjs
Created: February 2019
Stars: 3,100+
Forks: 160+
Link: https://github.com/infinitered/nsfwjs
nsfwjs is a client-side implementation of a NSFW detector, powered by Tensorflow.JS.
The implementation is able to differentiate between neutral images, pornographic imagery and drawings, making it a great application for any service that allows user-generated content.
Especially if you’re looking to get started with Deep Learning, this is a great project too. There are open issues related to the demo, loading and frontend, but also ideas to make the network better.
Shiny
Created: January 2019
Stars: 2,700+
Forks: 72+
Link: https://github.com/rikschennink/shiny
As the name suggests, this library makes things shiny. In more detail, this library tracks the motions of your mobile device, to simulate real-looking reflections. A great wow-effect for any website!
Naturally, working with device sensors and physics can be challenging, so there are some issues up on the repository that have to do with compatibility and other things. If you’re looking to get involved with a library that is a little more on the unusual, but exciting side, this is for you.
Medium to own Blog
Created: May 2019
Stars: 2,700+
Forks: 75+
Link: https://github.com/mathieudutour/medium-to-own-blog
Not a lot to say here. Many people are moving away from Medium due to it’s network effects and pushing of membership strategy. This script allows you to pull all content from medium, and pushing it to a self-hosted blog.
The self-hosted blog looks not much unlike a medium profile, but your content belongs to you and can be edited easily.
This repository is extremely new (at the time of writing, the first commit was 25 days ago), so any help is appreciated. There is a lot of growth potential here!