Angular vs React: Which is better?
Angular and React are two Fantastic JavaScript frameworks. Both are great choices and are used by several mega-corporations and industry giants like NFL, Sears, and Uber, Airbnb respectively. They are both great and you wouldn’t be wrong choosing either, kind of like tea or coffee, both are solid options- just depends on your preference and company style.
But first, let’s figure out what both Angular and React actually are.
Overview:
ReactJS is an open-source JavaScript library introduced by Facebook to build dynamic user interfaces. It is based on JavaScript and JSX (a PHP extension) and is considered widely for developing reusable HTML elements for front-end development.
Whereas, Angular is an open-source front-end development framework powered by Google. It is a part of MEAN stack and is compatible with numerous code editors and is considered for creating dynamic websites and web apps. Right now, Angular 2 is used as an umbrella term for all the versions of Angular released after AngularJS. They are Angular 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 (released on June 24, 2020).
Now let’s take an in-depth look at each one and its respective benefits.
Angular and Why you should choose it:
Angular is an open-source framework mainly used for creating web apps, single-page web apps, and hybrid apps. Angular is built on TypeScript rather than JavaScript (Difference: TypeScript is an Object-oriented programming language whereas JavaScript is a scripting language), developed and maintained by Google. Angular is a full-fledged toolkit that has everything developers need to build large-scale apps. No wonder it gains popularity: leading businesses, like Xbox, Forbes, BMW, and many more choose Angular over React for front-end development.
Projects built with Angular:
- Samsung Forward
- Microsoft Office Home
- Forbes
- BMW Driveaway Price Calculator
Benefits of Angular:
Cleaner Code
Angular uses the TypeScript programming language, which is a superset of JavaScript. It compiles JavaScript but also eases the process of finding and eliminating the common issues while typing the code. It also supports modules and Interfaces along with Static Typing features.
This approach helps the developers in writing cleaner and error-free codes and ensure high code quality, something that is really helpful when investing in Enterprise app development services.
Higher Performance
Angular has a hierarchical dependency injection, much better than that of ReactJS, in which classes are not dependent on each other. They rather turn towards the external sources, which deliver higher performance to the Angular mobile applications.
Material Design-like Interface
Angular offers pre-built material design components across navigation elements, form controls, pop-ups, layouts, and data tables. This helps the mobile app developers to overcome Google Material Design’s impact on Mobile app design and design a digital product that users need in the long run.
Better Error Handling
The latest stable version of Angular, i.e. Angular 7, also offers features like an upgraded error handling process for @Output in the scenarios where a property is not initialized.
Seamless Updates using Angular CLI
Angular CLI (Command-Line Interface) is easy to install and use, newcomer-friendly, offers innovative testing tools and simpler commands, and is supported by various engineers and platforms, which make it possible to update even those components having a third-party dependency.
React and Why you should choose it:
ReactJS (or React.js/React) was developed by Facebook as a front-end Javascript library for building user interfaces (UI). React uses a declarative style of programming to describe the UI state.
React allows programmers to figure out how their app is going to look for users and how they would interact with it. React is also used for building web apps, and native-rendered apps, and even mobile applications.
Besides reusable library code (which saves development time and cuts down on the chance for coding errors), React comes with two key features: JavaScript devs love — virtual DOM and JSX.
Facebook used React over Angular in production for years, along with Instagram, Netflix, and other tech giants. But it works for minor projects too.
Here are some small ones to give you an idea:
- Unit Converter
- Radix Converter
- BMI Calculator
- Course Learn Page
Like Angular, React is an open-source project. This means anyone can download and change its source for free. React libraries range from collections of individual UI features to complete React.js templates that help build UI’s from the ground up.
So, no matter what specific UI function a developer is going to address with React, there’s a library for their needs.
Benefits of React:
Better User Experience
Unlike other JavaScript frameworks, React uses the Virtual DOM — the abstract form of Real DOM. This makes it easier for the React app developers to update changes performed by the users in the application without affecting the other parts of the interface. This results in building a highly dynamic UI with an exquisite user experience.
Time-Saving
In the case of React, the app development companies can reuse the code components at distinct levels at any point in time. Besides, the components are isolated from each other, and changes in one does not affect the other, which makes it easier to manage the updates. This makes the React app development easier, time-saving, and efficient for developers.
Quick Development
React allows the developers to reuse the existing code and apply hot reloading into the process. This approach not only improves app performance but also accelerates the development speed.
Faster Testing
React extensively uses Redux, which cuts down the hassle of storing and managing component states in large-sized and complex applications with enormous dynamic elements. It helps the developers to add an application state in a single object and empower every component of the app to access the application state without involving child components or using callback. This makes it easier to test the application and log data changes, along with the use of hot reloading and other such tools.
Code Stability with One-directional data binding
ReactJS lets the developers work directly with the components and employ downward data binding to ensure that the parent entities do not get affected by the changes of child entities. This approach makes the code stable and supports the idea of development in the future.
So, here you have it, both React and Angular explained, along with their own advantages. Hope this helps you decide. If you still can’t figure out which way to go, it’s a good idea to test out both and see what works best for you and your team.