ANGULAR VS REACT – WHICH IS BEST FOR YOUR NEXT PROJECT?
Microsoft Teams or Google Meet, Slack or Discord, Angular or React – these are just a few of those comparisons we can’t tire off. After all, it’s to each of his own, but when it’s time to choose the best for your next project, a thorough comparison is a must. Let’s go through the basics…
WHAT IS ANGULAR?
A platform developed by Google, Angular is used by developers to build mobile and desktop web applications. It is a Typescript based free and open-source framework. Angular helps create dynamic and interactive single-page applications. The aim is to make web development feel effortless and focused on developer productivity, speed, and testability. Angular is mainly used to build complex enterprise-grade applications.
WHAT IS REACT?
React is a JavaScript library maintained by Meta (formerly Facebook), used to build user interfaces. It is best known for its virtual DOM feature, a programming concept where the virtual representation of a user interface is kept in memory as a blueprint. Changes made to the blueprint do not reflect on the original DOM until synced. A free and open-source library, one may use React to develop single-page or mobile applications.
Let’s first discuss what both have in common. Both Angular and React are two of the most powerful front end development frameworks. Both the technologies are highly efficient for both web and mobile, single and multi-page applications. Another thing they have in common is the fact that both of them are open source and give high performance. Large companies have also adopted them – Adobe, Nike and Microsoft use angular, while Facebook, Twitter and Netflix use react. All these facts show that both frameworks give each other tough competition.
So let’s dig deeper. When we talk about Angular, this technology:
Is a structural framework for developing dynamic web applications with built-in support for AJAX, HTTP, and Observables.
Not only offers efficiency through Typescript but also allows for a clean and crisp coding environment.
Allows you to develop advanced web applications and offers a suite of developer tools to create and scale projects from single-developer size to enterprise-grade applications.
Has more than 11 built-in testing modules to ensure error-free code.
Offers a two-way data binding system.
Is a low code framework compared to the other front end technologies.
Makes application development easier for developers due to its built-in dependency injection.
Is constantly updated with the latest innovation as it is led by a global technology leader, Google.
Enables the creation of high-end animation to enhance the user experience.
And now take a look at what all React has to offer. When compared to Angular, React is an equally powerful tool that:
Helps the developer easily create an interactive user interface as the code is easy to understand and launch.
Provides flexible, performance-oriented solutions, which make it time-saving and help in the faster development of applications.
Allows the use of 3rd party libraries, giving the marketers of React applications freedom to experiment with new user engagement strategies.
Makes it easy to scale applications across different platforms because of the learn once, write anywhere’ principle.
Offers dynamic application updates and a common tech stack.
Has a blueprint or lightweight copy of the original in its virtual DOM (Document Object Model).
DOM. It has all the properties of the real DOM. When the update is made, the whole virtual DOM is updated at a faster pace.
Offers one-way data-binding, which means that the entire application data flows only in one direction, giving the developer better control over it.
Has a component-based architecture. The UI of an application based on React comprises several components, and each of these components has a particular logic.
Is very simple and makes writing components very easy because of its syntax. ReactJS components are written in JSX, a combination of JavaScript and XML.
Makes it easy to read code and fix bugs because of the declarative UI feature in React.
In comparison with other frameworks, React JS is straightforward to learn. This allows developers to complete their projects at a faster pace.
Helps boost developer productivity by reusing and redistributing the same components.
Provides developers with a fast rendering feature bringing down the page’s load time. This feature makes React super SEO Friendly as the application/pages can get ranked higher on google search.
Allows for better stability of code and smooth application performance. This is because there is a downward data flow in React.
Has several developer tools available that can help discover parent and child components, observe their hierarchies, examine their present state, and so on.
So how do you choose between the two? The diplomatic answer is ‘It depends.’ It depends on your project, your team’s expertise, application complexity, the language you are using, and the amount of community support needed.
SO WHEN SHOULD YOU USE ANGULAR FOR YOUR PROJECT?
You should go for Angular if you fall under any of the following scenarios-
The projects require ready-to-use Angular mobile solutions, validation, increased productivity, availability, and punctual decisions.
The need for higher productivity.
Building a large scale, feature-rich application.
Previously used Java, C #, or previous versions of Angular; or you have time for a longer learning curve.
The application’s complexity in terms of input package and usage remains Low to Medium.
Need to create an enterprise-level application that will require long-term support and maintenance.
Requirement of having a complete framework.
Want the capability to reuse code.
A need to have lots of templates in your application.
Requirement for a robust server-side rendition.
On the other hand, users may opt for React in the below situations:
Requirement for a variety of events and technologies.
The application development team is proficient in HTML, CSS for styling, and JavaScript.
The project necessitates a highly personalized application.
Want to create shareable components in your project.
For a customized application solution.
Want to have the flexibility of choosing libraries.
For lightning-fast speed.
If your application has dynamic content.
If you are a beginner in web development.
Need to integrate Web 3 technology. Currently, Web 3 libraries are only available in JavaScript.
Both Angular and React have some high utility attributes that make them enormously powerful tools. Choosing between the two, in some cases, can be a difficult task for developers. The requirements of the project and the resources available are things that must be considered while making this decision. While both Angular and React have their advantages and disadvantages, these tools can only be helpful if they are apt for your project and its needs.