Before starting any new project choosing the Javascript frameworks can be confusing. Selecting the best framework can be difficult because there are so many to choose from, each with its own set of characteristics. Whenever front-end programming is required, the Angular vs React debate occurs. Especially when both have the same solution giving capacity, their approach is different.
Angular and react are both cutting-edge and widely used frameworks. Developers and project managers are left in a dilemma to choose between the two options. Its selection, however, depends on your project requirements, as they each have their own set of advantages and disadvantages and are unique in their way.
Today we will be answering questions like what is Angular? What is React? What’s the difference between Angular and React? And more. Both frameworks are well-known front-end frameworks. So, which is the best option?
What is Angular?
The origins of Angular can be traced back to 2010. It was initially known as AngularJS, and it was a Google-developed and maintained web framework. Within no time, it gained popularity and became one of the most popular web frameworks at the time.
Angular is a component-based framework that allows you to create scalable mobile and web applications. It has a wide range of integrated libraries and components, such as client-server communication, routing, and more, making it a complete framework. It comes with a set of developer tools that can be used to create and scale projects ranging from single-developer to enterprise-grade applications. Angular is a typescript-based development platform that results in a seamless experience.
What is React?
React is a facebook-used JavaScript library that was open-sourced in 2013. This framework popularised a web development concept known as component-based architecture, which has several benefits. For web and mobile apps, React is used to manage the view layer. We can also make reusable user interface components with React.
React is used for building user interfaces or UI components. Its component-based and declarative traits let developers create interactive and complex UIs easily. As React works on learning once and writes anywhere principle, Developers can make fast and scalable applications using it. React is managed by Facebook and a community of individual developers and communities.
This was all about knowing about them individually now; let’s look at Angular vs. react and which is best?
Angular vs React
When deciding which framework to use, it’s a good idea to consider the factors that make them popular. The more community support it has, the faster it can find solutions to problems that arise.
Another essential factor to consider when deciding between Angular and React is npm (Node Package Manager) downloads. The difference between Angular and React.js is that Angular uses both a one – and two-way data binding approach(Changing data impacts view and changing view that triggers data change). In comparison, React uses a one-way binding approach. When designing a React app, it’s common for developers to nest child components within higher-order parent components.
One-way binding makes the code more stable, debugging an app built with React versus an Angular app much more manageable. Still, Angular’s one/two-way binding is simpler to work with and makes the framework more flexible.
Angular vs. React Pros and Cons
Key Features of Angular
- TypeScript offers efficiency. Angular has built-in support for HTTP, AJAX, and Observables.
- Community support for Angular is vast.
- It is technology-consistent.
- It provides cleaner and crisper coding.
- It offers better support for error handling.
Advantages of Angular
Below are some of the benefits of Angular:
- It provides high performance.
- It offers clean code development.
- It has a material design-like interface.
- It provides seamless updates using Angular CLI.
- It takes care of routing.
Disadvantages of Angular
Below are some cons of Angular-
- It may not seem very clear for newcomers.
- It has no clear manual and extensive, all-inclusive documentation.
- It has a steep learning curve.
- Angular, at times, becomes slow with pages embedding interactive elements.
- Its scopes are hard for debugging limited routing.
- Third-party integration is very tough.
- You may face several issues while switching from older versions to newer ones.
React
Key Features of React
- React lets you use third-party libraries.
- It is simple and composable.
- It is time-saving.
- Facebook fully supports it.
- It provides a better user experience and faster performance.
- It serves speedier development.
- It gives code stability with one-directional data binding.
Advantages of React
Here are some of the benefits of React:
- React’s simple design makes it easier to learn.
- Developers can spend more time writing modern JavaScript frameworks with minimum worry about the framework-specific code.
- Its HTML-like syntax helps you with templating and highly-detailed documentation.
- The enhanced support for server-side rendering makes it a robust framework for content-focused applications.
- React is synced with a library like ReactDOM, eliminating manual updating and making it faster than any other framework or library.
- You can easily migrate between the versions.
- Facebook’s “Codemod” feature automates much of the process.
- You can apply skills learned from React to Native development.
- ReactJS can easily manage heavy loads by combining them with ES6/7.
Disadvantages of React
React has some cons too. Here are they-
- It requires a complex configuration to integrate React in the traditional MVC framework.
- Users must have in-depth knowledge of the integration of the user interface into the MVC framework.
To make things simple, we’ve compiled a list of comparisons that should assist you in making the best decision.
Angular vs React: Which is Better
Here’s the full comparison for React vs Angular-
| PARAMETERS | REACT | ANGULAR |
| Type | It’s a JavaScript library and is much older as compared to Angular. | It’s a complete framework. |
| Use of Libraries | You can package it with other programming languages. | It’s a complete solution in itself. |
| Learning Curve | You can grasp it easily as compared to Angular. But, it’s not easy to augment with Redux. | It’s not easy for beginners. Thus, it needs a lot of training. |
| Community Support | It does not offer much community support. | It has a dependable and viable community support system. |
| Installation Time | It takes longer to set up but consumes lesser time in coding. | It may consume more time in coding but is easy to set up. |
| Testing & Debugging | It requires a set of tools to perform different types of testing. | You can test and debug the entire project using a single tool. |
| Ideal For | It’s ideal for modern web developments and native-rendered apps for both iOS and Android devices. | It’s ideal for developing large-scale and feature-rich apps. |
| Model | It works on Virtual DOM. | It works on MVC. |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Language Preference | JSX – JavaScript XML | TypeScript |
| Companies Using | Facebook, Instagram, Netflix, Pinterest, etc. | WePay, Beam, Auto Trader, Mesh, Streamline Social, etc. |
| Template | JSX + J% (ES5/ ES6) | HTML + TypeScript |
| Abstraction | Strong | Medium |
| GitHub Stars | 180K | 80K |
| Adding JavaScript Library to the Source Code | Possible | Impossible |
| Restriction | It gives you an option to choose without any performance penalty. | It’s very sensitive and restricts you from using large models. |
| Use of Code | You can manage the code according to the desired format. | It has many ready-to-use elements but comes from a specific provider. So, there are priority collisions and namespaces. |
| Data Binding | It uses one-way data binding. Hence, you can’t change the UI elements without updating the corresponding model state. | It uses a one/ two-way data binding method. So, the model state automatically changes when you make any change. |
| Documentation | The documentation is faster despite regular updates. | The documentation is slower due to the ongoing development process. |
Conclusion
From the above Angular vs. React comparison, you would have the idea that both Angular and React are fantastic tools. Each framework is distinct in its way. It is entirely up to you to make this decision. However, we have to come to a conclusion and select any one of them.
Small businesses prefer React, whereas large development teams prefer Angular when developing an enterprise-grade application. React is a simple way to get the task done because it doesn’t have much to do with organizing HTML and instead focuses on the simplest ways to reuse UI components. In comparison, Angular is capable of handling multiple tasks without the need for external assistance. However, the advantages outweigh the time investment in the more extended concept.