That’s where this article comes in! It provides a helpful overview of Angular and React so that you can compare and contrast their unique characteristics. By the end of the reading, you’ll have a clearer understanding of which framework might be the best fit for your project and how to start learning it. Let’s dive in!
Angular
Angular is all about components. Imagine you wanted a weather module in the corner of your page that always gave the current weather info. In Angular, this would be a Weather component made up of Decorators and a Controller Class. The pieces of our page components can talk to each other, creating a complex web app with simple singular pieces.
Angular development has versatile capabilities. It comes with everything you need to build an app, including form handling, a router, an HTTP client for syncing with back-end servers/databases, and tools for writing unit and performance tests.
It derives from a more traditional MVC flavored pattern where models and views talk to each other both ways. Flux uses its own unique approach of only allowing data between objects to flow in one direction.
The framework is used in various industries, from food to finance, eCommerce to email services, and it’s employed globally for website development in such companies as Google, PayPal, VEVO and many more.
| STRENGTHS | WEAKNESSES |
| Performance | Quite large size (longer initial load time) |
| Server-side rendering | A bit longer learning curve, compared to React |
| Effective cross-platform UI | |
| Modules and components make code more readable and easy to test | |
| Powerful design patterns like dependency injection and Angular services out-of-the-box | |
| Framework approach (all in one) | |
| ES2020 TypeScript |
React
React and React DOM main purpose is to update views the user is seeing to reflect the current state of data stored in the application. It achieves this using a virtual DOM.
It’s important to note that React is not a framework in and of itself. Although it’s a powerful library, it doesn’t provide support for things like routing or syncing with back-end servers. To achieve this, you need to combine React with other libraries or frameworks.
React can be combined with Redux, which is a suggested data architecture pattern where communication between the parts of an application are one direction only. In this case, React handles your views and Redux manages the business logic.
Facebook claims that React’s one-way data flow approach provides a simpler mental model that other developers can easily understand, and it makes it easier to locate and fix bugs. Plus, it enables developers to create meaningful unit tests.
React’s simplicity have made it immensely popular for web development. Facebook uses React+Flux on their Instagram website and Facebook’s chat feature. Other big companies like Airbnb, Atlassian, Dropbox, and BBC also use React to develop their websites.
| STRENGTHS | WEAKNESSES |
| Performance | JSX can easily become difficult to read |
| Server-side rendering | Covers only UI and does not provide end-to-end workflow |
| Effective cross-platform UI | |
| Easy to learn | |
| Library approach (pick what you need) | |
| ES2015 |
Angular vs React comparison
The table compares some key features of Angular and React. You’ll find here information on everything from data binding to performance and testing capabilities.
| ANGULAR | REACT | |
| Developed by | ||
| Released in | 2009 | 2013 |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Technology | Framework written in JavaScript | JavaScript library |
| Best Suited for | Large web applications presenting complex processes | Web applications focusing on the data display rather than complex data manipulation |
| DOM Type | Real | Virtual |
| Performance | High | High |
| Data Binding | One- or two-way data binding | One-way data binding |
| UI Rendering | Client/Server-Side | Client/Server-Side |
| Dependency Injection | Fully supported | Not supported |
| Dynamic UI Binding | UI binding at plain object or property level Direct linking of states to the UI | Direct linking of states to the UI |
| App Structure | Well-structured multi-layer architecture | Flexible component-based view |
| Testing capabilities | Robust. More comprehensive testing framework built-in, with support for unit, integration, and end-to-end testing. Testing tools include Karma, Jasmine, and more. | Robust. Good support for unit testing with tools like Jest and Enzyme. It supports integration testing through tools like React Testing Library. |
| Learning Curve | Steep | Moderate |
Difference between Angular and React in implementing projects
When it comes to implementing projects, Angular and React differ in several ways. Let’s take a look at some key differences.
#1 Component-based architecture
Both Angular and React are based on a component-based architecture, but they differ in how they define and use components. In Angular, components are defined using TypeScript classes and are associated with HTML templates, making it easier to build complex UI widgets. In React, components are defined using either JavaScript or TypeScript and can be reused across different application parts.
#2 Templates and JSX
React uses JSX, which is an extension of JavaScript that allows you to write HTML-like code in your JavaScript code. Angular uses HTML templates, which provide a clean separation between the presentation and the application’s logic.
#3 State management
React relies on state management libraries like Redux and MobX to manage the state across the application. In contrast, Angular provides a built-in mechanism for managing the state using services and hierarchical dependency injection.
#4 Routing
Both Angular and React provide routing mechanisms but differ in how they handle routing. React uses third-party routing libraries like React Router, while Angular has its own routing mechanism called the Angular Router.
#5 Development experience
Both Angular and React have different development experiences. Angular provides a more opinionated framework, which means it has a steep learning curve, but once you understand its architecture, you can easily create complex applications. React is more flexible and allows you to choose from a wide range of third-party libraries to build your application.
React or Angular – which one should you pick?
A few matters are worth considering from the perspective of your project before you decide on a framework. These are:
- Size of the project,
- Maintenance time,
- Target platforms (web, mobile, desktop),
- Team size,
- Developers experience,
- Scoop of functionality definition.
If you’re looking to build an enterprise-level and large-scale web application with complex logic, multiple modules, where dependency injection becomes handy, then Angular may be the right choice. Angular is also great for building real-time and single-page applications that require a lot of dynamic behavior.
On the other hand, if you’re creating a user interface that requires a lot of user interaction and reusability, React may be a better option. Its component-based architecture allows the creation of reusable UI components that can be used across different parts of an application.
React’s efficient rendering and virtual DOM make it suitable for building high-performance web applications that require dynamic behavior. It’s great for simple applications with limited data manipulation. At the same time, it is more efficient when focusing on the data display rather than managing complex flows.
Learning React vs Angular
React is a UI library built to do only one thing, but it does this pretty well. Combined with other libraries, it becomes an entire framework. It is easy to get started with, even if you have limited front-end experience.
The first thing to face in React is an XML/HTML-like syntax, the JSX. It may not seem most familiar for some devs when they start, but it doesn’t add much complexity — just expressions, which are actually JavaScript.
Additionally, you’ll need to learn components and props, but there’s no need to worry about learning any new logical structures since it’s all based on JavaScript. The only challenging part may be finding the right libraries, but building the structure of an app and developing it is straightforward.
On the other hand, Angular is already a complete framework for building front-end-driven web apps. It may seem more demanding at first glance because there are many new concepts to learn, but knowing this all-in-one tool could be a significant advantage in the long run.
It may take longer to start with Angular, but it’s easier to understand what you need to set up and how the components interact. The framework is feature-rich and offers plenty to learn, including modules, dependency injection, decorators, components, services, pipes, templates, directives, and more advanced topics like change detection, zones, AoT compilation, and Rx.js.
Either way, if you’re familiar with Java or .NET, TypeScript will feel more natural and straightforward.
Say hello
In this small lab, you can find out for yourself how easy it is to create new applications in both Angular2 and React.
Shared prerequisites:
➡️ Node.js is an open-source, cross-platform JavaScript runtime environment and library for running web applications outside the client’s browser. Angular uses Node.js for a large part of its build environment.
Tool can be downloaded from: https://nodejs.org/en/download
➡️ Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is a powerful source code editor available on Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms that you can use to write and run your code. As a text editor, it is the most widely used integrated development environment (IDE) among developers, offering a range of features suitable for programmers of all levels.
Tool can be downloaded from: https://code.visualstudio.com/download
Angular prerequisites:
➡️ Angular command-line interface (CLI) tool was created to make it easier to bootstrap and develop your Angular applications.
To install the tool first install NodeJS, then in the command prompt, type the following command: npm install @angular/cli
Creating the Angular Application
Step #1
Create a folder for your application. Open a new terminal and type the following command to create your skeleton application:
ng new hello-worldWhen asked questions, you can confirm data usage sharing, then answer yes to Angular routing and CSS for stylesheet.
Step #2
To run the application, change the directory to the folder created and then use ng command:
cd hello-world
ng serve
Congratulations! Your app is up and running on address localhost:4200, let’s check it via browser.
Creating the React Application
Step #1
Create a folder for your application. Open a new terminal and type the following command to create your skeleton application:
npx create-react-app hello-worldNPM will notify about a required package to be installed – create-react-app- answer yes (y)s
Step #2
To run the application, change the directory to the folder created and then use ng command:
cd hello-world
npm startCongratulations! Your app is up and running on address localhost:3000, let’s check it out via browser.
Last advice
When choosing between Angular and React, it’s essential to consider what you already know about each framework and which one best suits your project. Both have their pros and cons, so it ultimately comes down to your coding habits and preferences, as well as the type of project you’re working on.
If you’re seeking advice from others, make sure to ask if they’ve had experience with both frameworks, as opinions can change after extensive use. After observing people who have actively used both frameworks, I’ve noticed that many tend to appreciate React more over time. However, they still never imagine deleting Angular from their toolkit.
With that in mind, I suggest trying both frameworks and not sticking to the same approach every time. By gaining experience in both, you’ll be better equipped to choose the best option for each project. So don’t be afraid to experiment and explore both Angular and React to see which one works best for you!
You can try out React using the tutorials here: https://react.dev
You can try out Angular by following the tutorials at https://angular.io