Choosing Your Weapon: Angular vs React - For Modern Web Development

The battle of Angular vs React is not new. Developers have always argued about which technology is better than the other. While there have always been many rounds of comparison, nobody is reaching a conclusion of reaching a final verdict. Here is a detailed comparison of both technologies for modern web development.

 

What is Angular?

Primarily owned and maintained by Google, Angular is an open source JavaScript based framework that is written in TypeScript. The history of Angular traces back to 2010 when Google introduced it first with the name “Angular.js”. Later on, it was converted entirely into Typescript renamed as “Angular” and released in the year 2016. Angular is very popular among loyal followers and there is a large community of developers that maintains it.

Advantages

●   Angular allows reusable and custom components that can adapt contexts and can be used in different situations

●    (MVC) Model-view-controller that helps in clean code development

●    Automate Typescript data without manually writing any code

●    Easy testing on both levels (Unit & end-to-end)

●    Availability of Dependency Injection

●    Consistency of Code

●    Interactive User Interface

●    Full-fledged framework

 

 

Top Companies that Use Angular

●    Microsoft

●    Upwork

●    Paypal

●    Samsung

●    IBM

●    Guardian

●    Forbes

What is React?

React is a JavaScript library created by Meta (Formerly Facebook). React was born out of the need to manage Facebook’s Ad application. Jordan Walke is known to be the father of React. In the year 2011, he developed FaxJS (Later became React) to make Facebook’s Ad application more robust. The react library is maintained by Meta and an individual community of developers.

Advantages

●    React’s flexible architecture requires little or no maintenance

●    Facebook (Meta) being the parent company, React is SEO-friendly

●    Fast rendering with VDOM (Virtual Domains)

●    Availability of a vast number of free debugging tools

●    Can be optimised for other frameworks

●    Easy process of debugging

●    Simplified development

 

Top Companies that use React

●    Facebook

●    Instagram

●    Whatsapp

●    Discord

●    Airbnb

●    Walmart

 

Angular vs React Comparison

Developed by:

Angular - Google

React - Facebook

Year of Development

Angular - 2009

React - 2011

 

Written in

Angular - Typescript

React - Javascript

 

Maintained by

Angular - Google + Developers community

React - Facebook + Developers community

 

DOM 

Angular - Real

React - Virtual

 

Data Building

Angular - Two way

React - One way

 

Dependency Injection

Angular - Available

React - Not available

 

Language

Angular - JavaScript + HTML

React - JavaScript + JSX

 

Learning curve

Angular - Steep

React - Small

 

Popularity

React is very popular among the community of developers. More than 40% of the community supports React due to its vast popularity. Angular is being supported by more than 17% of developers. React is the clear winner when it comes to the popularity of the battle between Angular v React.

 

Similarities

There are many similarities between Angular and React. Those who’ve mastered both of these technologies can pinpoint the same. These similarities include in their Architecture since both of the technologies offer component-based architecture. Another similarity being both of them are open source and are supported by a large community of developers.

Performance

Google and Facebook (Meta) both are giants in the tech world hence there is no doubt about the tech they offer and the products they put on the market. Angular & React, both stand at par with each other. Their performance varies in terms of use cases. React offers one-way data binding and a VDOM (Virtual Document Object Model) while on the other hand, Angular uses two way data binding and Real DOM.

 

Use Cases

Angular is part of MEAN (MongoDB, Express.js, Angular, Node.js). It is suitable for enterprise applications that are high in complexity and offer diverse and dynamic content.

 

React is a JavaScript library commonly known as a framework among developers. React offers a “learn once, write anywhere” method. Hence it can be integrated into the existing application for maximum benefits.

 

Community Support

There is a huge community backing both react and angular. React has a community of developers and Facebook groups that regularly maintain the JavaScript Library. Angular is developed by Google hence there is a large community of backers that trust Google and opt for the same.

Maintenance

Angular maintenance of the quality of code by compilation. React offers review and generation of similar coding to maintain consistency across the block. Angular has a slight edge over React here.

 

Testing

Angular can debug and test web applications' parts without breaking the entire application. This feature may help to iterate and try new things with dependency injection. React works on the Spying method which means it predicts parts of functionalities and runs tests.

 

Framework

Angular is a framework while React is a JavaScript library. Angular offers its base while React needs to be paired with a framework such as Redux to build upon.

Which one is better?

Both React and Angular offer their use cases and have their cult following. Both of them have their advantages as well as limitations. It is required to be clear with your project requirements first to understand which technology will offer maximum benefits.