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Discover The Pros and Cons between React vs Angular for Your Software Project
JavaScript is a robust software development technology that has been steadily rising in popularity since the past two decades. Initially emerging as an interesting technology to make websites more dynamic, it has evolved to spawn several frameworks and libraries. And with all of them built using JavaScript, or its superset TypeScript, there are often debates about the better choice, as in the case with Angular vs React.
Today, Angular and React, along with Vue, make up the famous web framework trifecta that is used by many organizations and developers across the globe. But it also give rise to a few serious questions. Are they all created equal in all aspects? And if not, then which one is the better choice for your specific project?
This, and much more will be answered in the article below. Let’s dive in and discover the advantages and limitations of React and Angular, and discover which framework works best for specific projects. Also, we will explore which companies use each of these two frameworks, to get a better idea of their implementation, and why a custom web development company should consider using them.
The Purpose of JS Web Frameworks; and Why One Needs Them
As we mentioned earlier, JavaScript is a famous and widely used technology among software developers. Now, the JavaScript frameworks popular today are used by developers to create a robust and interactive frontend for apps, while reducing the development time and effort it takes.
That is why we have been seeing a massive surge in new web frameworks; including new versions of existing software development frameworks emerge in recent years. With UX a critical factor nowadays, it is easy to understand why an organization might want a purpose-built frontend app framework to make their job easier.
Angular – One of the Most Popular Web Frameworks in the World
Angular is a highly popular web development framework that is developed using TypeScript and HTML. Its primary purpose is to help developers build Single-Page Apps, whether it is for the web or the mobile. Developed by Google, it is completely open source, which means that developers are free to modify and tailor it according to their own needs.
How it works is that Angular allows the addition of HTML tags within the TypeScript files itself. That allows the framework to do many things unlike their opponents such as implementing abstract classes and more. Moreover, Angular offers its users the function of two-way data binding, which allows the developers the ability to change a value in the model, and that change reflects in the live view automatically.
One thing of note here though; people often confuse Angular with AngularJS, thinking they are the one and same. However, as the name of the latter clarifies, AngularJS is purely JavaScript-based, and has been made defunct since 2022. Angular on the other hand is based on TypeScript, which offers much improvement over pure JavaScript.
These improvements include project scalability, additional language functionality, reference validation, collaborative development, improvements in DevX, and better code maintainability.
Companies That Use Angular as Their Development Framework of Choice
With the first stable version of Angular being the Angular 2+, which was announced in 2014, there have been a number of upgrades to the framework since then. Moreover, as new features were added to it over time, a number of companies besides parent Google have been using Angular as their go-to development framework.
The most recent stable version of Angular is the Angular 16. Released in May 2023, it is the result of rapid evolution in the web framework witnessed within the past few years. And it has some of the most popular organizations using Angular for their software solutions, including Microsoft Office Suite, PayPal, Deutsche Bank, and Upwork. Along with Google, these organizations are using Angular to build responsive, robust, and stable software tools that are large and feature-rich.
This shows that the technology is quite capable of handling a variety of applications, and is reliable enough to be used by companies that have a high volume of users on their developed products. Moreover, it is robust enough to handle various aspects of the application lifecycle management.
The JS Framework Made Popular by Facebook – ReactJS
ReactJS, also known simply as React, is a JavaScript library developed by Facebook, which was released to the public and open-sourced in 2013. Today, it is maintained by Meta (rebranded from Facebook), as well as a community of independent developers.
Today, it is one of the most popular and widely used JS library because of the fact that it is one of the easiest technologies to build web apps today. That is because it allows developers to focus on the UI, and build frontend using UI components, allowing them to develop robust, single-page, web or mobile app interfaces.
It was the arrival of React in 2013 that introduced and popularized the new development concept, known as component-based architecture. And it was due to this reason that it quickly carved a niche for itself in the market, and overshadowed many other popular frameworks of the time, including Angular.
The Popularity of ReactJS among Entities Other Than Facebook
As React was developed in-house by Facebook itself, it is a small wonder that the parent company, now named Meta, is using it for a variety of its tools such as Instagram and WhatsApp. However, many other organizations use ReactJS for their own tools as well. its component-based development model, along with its focus on user interface, makes it a highly popular tool among companies, big and small.
Netflix, New York Times, Dropbox, and Yahoo use ReactJS for their software development needs, showing that just like Angular, it too has what it takes to be the development platform of choice for a large organization. And that is what makes the angular vs react debate all the more exciting.
Angular Vs React – The Advantages and Limitations of Each Framework
Now, no matter what the technology is that is popular among the masses, there are some benefits and limitations to it. in fact, there are benefits and limitations to all technological options in the market, whether it’s a popular technology, or a niche one designed for specific purposes.
Now you might ask, why would a technology, once it get popular, not try to do away with its limitations? Well, to put it simply, while some limitations can be worked on and improved, many limitations are the result of a tradeoff between the directions that the technology could have taken. That means that due to conscious decisions the technology’s team took, is what brings about both its benefits as well as limitations.
Take for example the difference between android and iOS. Both are great mobile platforms, with benefits and limitations on either side. Due to its superior control over who and how iOS can be used and operated, iOS is more secure than android. The tradeoff however, is that there is less customizability available to the users. Android on the other hand, is open source. That allows people to develop and customize the OS, as they like, with the tradeoff being that there may be security loopholes.
So now that we know why a technology may have its benefits and drawbacks, let’s take a look at the specific advantages that both technologies offer, as well as their limitations.
Advantages of Angular
There are a number of advantages that Angular offers its users. Based on TypeScript, the development framework offers:
- TypeScript’s Extended Features
TypeScript is a statically-types superset of JavaScript, meaning that it offers more functionality than JS itself. That makes it potentially more capable than frameworks developed purely in JavaScript, by offering features such as classes, interface functions, and even type checking function that allows the developers to catch and rectify issues early on.
Moreover, its implementation improves the readability of the codebase, as well as simplifies the process of maintaining the code.
- Modular Approach
Using Angular allows developers to break down large and complex projects into smaller parts. Moreover, each of these smaller parts is designed to be reusable, which reduces the amount of redundant code, as well as making it easier for developers to maintain the code, improving testing capabilities, and improves its scalability.
- Robust Performance
Angular is designed to be more developer-friendly, as well as focuses on providing a great user experience. It offers features like lazy loading, ahead-of-time compilation, tree shaking and more that improves the overall performance, including load times, for a great user experience in your product software development projects.
- Cross Platform Development
Cross platform apps are considered the future of app development today, where the same codebase for the app can be used for a number of platforms like web, mobile, and more. And Angular is a popular cross platform development framework that makes it easier for developers to create and maintain apps for multiple platforms without having to create multiple codebases. That means that in case there is a major update to the app, the developers do not need to create separate codebases for each platform, but only need to create and publish one version of the update.
- Large Community
Today, with the advancing technologies becoming more and more elaborate, the presence of a large and supportive online community can be the difference between failure and success for the developers. From helping find the right components and libraries, to aiding the developers solve complex problems, the community can be a lifesaver. And the Angular community is one of the largest and most active ones, with users who provide guidance, updates, bug fixes, and new features to the framework. This way they contribute to both the sustainment as well as growth of the Angular community.
Benefits of ReactJS
In the React vs Angular debate, Angular has often been considered the greater option due to it being a framework compared to ReactJS being a library. However, React is a great option in its own right too, as is evident by the number of large organization choosing it as their development technology of choice. Some of its primary benefits include:
- Module Reusability
The component-based architecture of ReactJS is what makes it such a popular choice. Developers can create UI modules that can be reused throughout the software wherever needed. This makes for a more maintainable code, as well as helps in providing scalability of the tool’s development.
- Interactive UIs
As the focus of the ReactJS library is the UI and the UX, React offers the option of developing interactive UIs that are dynamic and adaptable, which allows the developers to update and display data in real time, without having to update the entire page.
- High Reliability
As ReactJS is used by many different organizations including Facebook, Instagram, and more, there is no doubt that the technology is robust enough to handle large scale and enterprise level software applications without issue.
- Good Customizability
ReactJS also offers a high degree of customizability. This is because no two developers working on projects have the same needs, and this allows them to tailor and modify it according to their specific needs. This tailoring can also be done by integration other libraries and more to enhance the capabilities or extend functionality.
- Rich Community of Users
With such a large variety of companies using ReactJS, it is no wonder that it has a huge community of developers, who offer help, resources, libraries, tools, and guidance to the user.
They also help them out with issues, and help them enhance and extend the reach of ReactJS.
- High Performance
One of the key features of ReactJS, is that offers a rendering process that improves the time it takes to update data in different sections. Using the Virtual DOM for its performance improvement, React allows the developers to update only the relevant parts of the DOM, which improves the load times.
Limitations of Angular
While there is a host of benefits to using Angular, they do come with a side of limitations. As we mentioned earlier, it all comes down to the tradeoffs that are made when a development framework or library is developed, and what define the Angular vs React debate. Some of its more critical limitations include:
- Large File Size
One of the biggest drawbacks to using Angular is that the files have a larger size than most other options. That is due to the more complex architecture of Angular, and can be a problem for lighter applications.
- Somewhat Rigid Development Approach
There is a somewhat strict structure to Angular development, which limits how the developer adapts the framework to their use. This makes it quite difficult to integrate an Angular project with existing databases and tools, requiring expert help.
- More Challenging to Debug
The use of TypeScript, while being a benefit, is also a drawback for Angular. That, combined with the complex architecture, makes it difficult to test and debug an Angular app.
- Forward Migration Can be Challenging
Due to the massive changes in the framework from one version of Angular to the next, migrating an existing project from a previous version to a newer one can be a huge challenge, due to the need to cater to a large number of changes.
Limitations of ReactJS
Just like with Angular, React too has a few limitations that can be a factor when you are deciding among Angular vs React. Some of the most critical limitations include:
- Writing of Boilerplate Code
Unlike Angular, which allows for classes and more, React requires the creation of large quantities of boilerplate code. This can be very time-consuming for the developers, both when writing and maintaining the application. This is one of the biggest points in favor of Angular during the React vs Angular debate.
- Compatibility Issues
With a large library of tools and add-ons, there are often compatibility issues between them, which can cause fragmentation among the app, thus affecting functionality.
- Setting Up Tools can be Difficult
Continuing from the previous issue, the large and diverse range of tools and libraries available as add-ons make it more difficult to properly set up the tools you want without any of the added tools or libraries clashing with each other.
- Challenging to Optimize with SEO
As React is a JS-based development library, it is often a problem to optimize React apps for search engines, so that they can be properly crawled and indexed on time.
Choosing the Best One for Your Project – Angular Vs React
When talking about Angular vs React, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to which one suits your project better. If UI is a major concern for you, or a small yet responsive file size is a priority, then React is the clear winner in this React vs Angular debate.
However, if scalability and compatibility is more critical of a requirement for you, then Angular is the best choice for the project. In any case, there will always be such debates raging on, as each developer has their own preference, and will fiercely defend in front of their peers. That is also how the Vue vs React debate started, and will go on for the near future.
FAQs
| Is Angular easier to use than React? As Angular is a more rigid development framework, it is not as highly preferred by new or fresh developers. However, for the more experienced developers, Angular is the more popular choice. |
| Why is Angular losing its popularity? Angular is losing its popularity, albeit in some circles, due to its forwards compatibility issues that can be a major problem for development team migrating their projects from older versions to a newer one. |
| Is Angular better for my career or React? This is one of the most focal points in the Angular vs React argument. React is simpler, and is suitable for someone starting out who needs to practice with single-page apps. However, as the developer goes forward with their skills and experience, they would require the knowledge and expertise of a technology that could handle more complex projects, something Angular is perfect for. |
Conclusion
In short, when discussing the Angular vs React debate, there are a lot of factors to consider before you should choose the one for your project. While for some frameworks it may be more of a personal preference between your choice of development framework, in this scenarios there are clear deciding factors that can help you with your choice.
Therefore, if you are thinking about choosing between these two technologies, this topic discussing the core factors of React vs Angular is a great place to start.
And if you are looking for an experienced custom development firm to develop your app, then look no further than BariTechSol. Our experts have successfully developed software systems for companies from a wide range of industries, as well as ranging in size from single proprietorship to SMBs and enterprises.