When it comes to offering JavaScript based libraries or frameworks to the world for developing mobile apps, Facebook and Google have always been head-to-head. Earlier, we explored Flutter vs React Native and understood what is best suited for the idea. Having an application is the need of the hour for any business. It doesn’t matter whether you are a real estate company, a construction company, a healthcare company, a restaurant, or a business that is willing offer ease to your customers. You can no longer ignore the need of having a web based application that projects your business in the digital world and gives an ease of access to your clients, employees, or any other stakeholders within the process.
However, when you develop an application, it is tough to decide on which technology to choose. Ideally, a top web development company or your in-house development team decides the technology based on your idea and need. Deciding a technology to go with requires a technical expertise but, it isn’t a rocket science which cannot be understood by anyone. Considering the same, we have tried to cover a debate on whether to choose Angular or React for the application. Facebook introduced React to the world while Google shifted it’s focus in the same lines and developed Angular as it’s product in comparison to React.
Table Of Contents
- [Brief Comparison between Angular and React](#Healthcareapps)
- [What is Angular?](#TelehealthApps)
- [Pros and Cons of Angular as a Development technology](#TelehealthZocdoc)
- [When to choose Angular for the app development?](#telehealthfeatures)
- [What is React?](#costdeveloping)
- [Pros and Cons of React as a Development technology](#DevelopmentTechnology)
- [When to choose React for the mobile app development?](#ChooseFlutter)
- [Comparison Angular vs React : A detailed comparative study](#ComparisonFlutter)
- [Conclusion](#Conclusion)
Brief Comparison between Angular and React
Parameter
ANGULAR
REACT
**Developed By**
Google
Facebook
**Release Year**
2009
2013
**Written In**
TypeScript
JavaScript
**Technology Type**
Full-fledged MVC framework written in JavaScript
JavaScript library (View in MVC; requires Flux to implement architecture)
Data Binding Two-way data binding One-way data binding
DOM Type Real Virtual
App Structure Fixes and complicated MVC Flexible component-based view
Debug Process Angular Augury React Developer Tools
Deployment Process Slower due to setup overhead Faster due to component reusability
Popularity Widely used in enterprise Extremely popular
**
ANGULAR.JS
What is Angular?
Angular is a popular open-source web application framework developed and maintained by Google. It is written in TypeScript and allows developers to build dynamic, single-page web applications (SPAs) with rich user interfaces. Angular provides a structured and modular approach to web development, making it easier to create and maintain complex applications. It provides a set of tools, libraries, and conventions to streamline the process of developing web applications. Angular applications are built using components. A component is a self-contained, reusable piece of code that encapsulates a specific part of the user interface and its behavior. Consider components as the templates of certain features which can be created and integrated to multiple applications.
Evolution of Angular over the years
-
Angular 2 **was released, key architectural changes. Shift from two-way data binding to unidirectional flow. New features introduced, such as TypeScript, Ahead-of-Time (AOT) compilation, and the Angular CLI.
2016
-
AngularJS (Angular 1.x) was released.
2010
-
Angular 6 and Angular 7 were released, focusing on performance enhancements, Angular Material CDK, and updates to the Angular CLI.
2018
-
Angular 4 and Angular 5 were released with new features. Key feature of reducing application bundle size. Introduction of the HttpClient module replacing the older Http module for handling HTTP requests.
2017 -
Angular 9, Angular 10 and Angular 11 were released, featuring the opt-in preview of the Ivy rendering engine, which aimed to improve performance and reduce bundle sizes.
2020 -
Angular 8 was released, introducing differential loading, improved web worker support, and updates to the Angular CLI.
2019
-
**Angular 14 ** and **Angular 15 ** were released with features such as Angular Ivy Animations, Option injectors in embedded views, standalone components, and so on.
2022 -
** Angular 12** and ** Angular 13** were released. New features viz. Angular Ivy Incremental DOM and Angular Material 12 introduced.
2021 -
** Angular 16** and ** Angular 17** are released adding new features like experimental Jest support, and Esbuild-based build system for development servers.
2023
**
Pros and Cons of Angular as a Development technology
Pros of Angular:
Angular comes with a set of conventions that help developers by providing a clear and organized structure for their projects.
Changes in the user interface automatically updates the application state and vice versa. Thus reducing the bolilerplace code to manage state.
Angular CLI (Command Line Interface), which assists with project scaffolding, code generation, and other development tasks.
Built with TypeScript that catches errors during development, provides better tooling support, and enhances the overall developer experience.
Developed and managed by Google which ensures efficient support and assurance of it going a long way.
Cons of Angular:
Steeper learning curve compared to React an can be overwhelming for beginners with features like modules, decorators, and dependency injection.
Angular applications have larger bundle size compared to React. This affects initial load time of the App especially for the users with slower internet connections.
It may limit the flexibility that developers have in choosing libraries and tools. The developers have to adhere to the rules and standards established.
Angular has more frequent releases as compared to React which sometimes makes difficult for the developers to update and manage the apps with same frequency.
When to choose Angular for the app development?
-
Angular is well-suited for complex and enterprise-level applications as it has a modular architecture, and makes it easier to manage and scale applications with complex requirements.
-
Angular is particularly strong when it comes to building complex Single Page Applications with rich user interfaces.
-
Angular integrates seamlessly with the Ionic framework. If you're targeting mobile app development, especially with Ionic, Angular is a natural choice.
-
When your existing team or in-house team doesn’t have ample skills to develop apps on Angular, you can connect with an innovative web development company for Angular development.
REACT
What is React?
React is an open-source JavaScript library developed and maintained by Facebook. It is primarily used for building user interfaces (UI) or UI components for single-page applications (SPAs) where UI updates are frequent. React was first released in 2013 and has gained widespread popularity due to its efficiency, flexibility, and the declarative way it enables developers to build UI components. React follows a component-based architecture, where the UI is broken down into reusable and self-contained components.
Evolution of React over the years
-
Integrated into Instagram**
2012 -
React, first deployed on Facebook’s news feed.
2011 -
**React Native ** announced at React Conference by Facebook enabling Android, iOS, and Universal Windows Platform development.
2015 -
At JSConf US, React was declared and launched as open-source for developers.
2013
-
React team announced the release of React V17.0.
2020 -
Facebook announces ** React Fiber.** New set of internal algorithms for rendering. React 16.0 released for public.
2017 -
** React 18** released. New concurrent renderer, automatic batching and support for server side rendering with Suspense.
2022
Pros and Cons of React as a Development technology
Pros of React:
**
React is more flexible as compared to Angular’s rigid structure based approach. It is referred to as library rather than framework.
React has a less learning curve compared to Angular for the developers with JavaScript experience.
React has a massive community compared to Angular which is advantageous for finding solutions to the problem.
React is easy to integrate with the existing applications as compared to Angular.
React's virtual DOM helps optimize updates to the actual DOM, resulting in better performance in certain scenarios.
Cons of React:
React is more unopinionated, the onus is on developers to make more decisions about project structure, state management, and other architectural aspects.
For developers new to React, JSX (JavaScript XML) might be a hurdle initially.
React's flexibility sometimes leads to a potential fragmentation of third-party libraries due to additional decisions about state management and routing.
When to choose React for the mobile app development?
-
React makes it easier to build complex user interfaces by breaking them down into manageable components.
-
It promotes a more efficient and faster rendering process through the use of a virtual DOM.
-
JSX provides a concise and readable syntax for defining UI components.
-
React's component-based architecture encourages code reusability and maintainability.
Comparison Angular vs React : A detailed comparative study
Code Structure & Syntax
a. Angular
For creating angular app we need to run the below commands
Step 1: Creating a new angular app
`ng new my-angular-app`
Step 2: After moving in the directory create a new component by following command which generates a component by the name “new-component”
`ng generate component new-component`
Step 3: Now the component can be customized as per requirement using css and html, and once done it can be used in the following manner in angular templates
`app-my-component app-my-component`
The final component will look like this
`import {
Component,
OnInit
} from '@angular/core';
@Component({
selector: 'app-my-component',
templateUrl: './my-component.component.html',
styleUrls: ['./my-component.component.css']
})
export class MyComponentComponent implements OnInit {
constructor() {}
ngOnInit(): void {}
}
`
b. React
For creating a component in react
Step 1: create a new react project using below command
`npx create-react-app my-react-app`
Step 2: After moving in the directory we can create a component by creating a folder MyComponent.** Inside the src folder, create a new file named MyComponent.js.
Step 3: After opening the file we can write the code directly and use the component by importing the name
MyComponent MyComponent
The final component will look like this
`import React from 'react';
import MyComponent from './MyComponent';
function App() {
return (
);
}
export default App;
`
And after importing it to app.js it would look like this
`import React from 'react';
const MyComponent = () => {
return (
Hello, I 'm a basic component!
);
};
export default MyComponent;
`
Life cycle of a component/widget
a. Angular
As the application instantiates a component or directive by calling its constructor, Angular calls the hook methods that have been implemented.
Angular executes hook methods in the following sequence:
`ngOnChanges()`
Respond when Angular sets or resets data-bound input properties. It is called before ngOnInit()
`ngOnInit()`
Initialize the directive or component after Angular first displays the data-bound properties and sets the directive or component's input properties.
`ngDoCheck()`
Detect and act upon changes that Angular can't or won't detect on its own.
`ngOnDestroy()`
Cleanup just before Angular destroys the directive or component. Unsubscribe Observables and detach event handlers to avoid memory leaks.
b. React
React has four built-in methods that gets called, in this order, when mounting a component:
`constructor()`
This method is called before anything else, when the component is initiated, and it is the natural place to set up the initial state and other initial values.
`getDerivedStateFromProps()`
This method is called right before rendering the element(s) in the DOM.
This is the natural place to set the state object based on the initial props.
`render()`
The render() method is required, and is the method that actually outputs the HTML to the DOM.
`componentDidMount()`
The componentDidMount() method is called after the component is rendered.
This is where you run statements that requires that the component is already placed in the DOM.
DOM Manipulations
a. Angular
In Angular apps, a real DOM is used, which means the whole tree structure is refreshed when a single change is made. This makes the process slower.
In Angular, the Document Object Model (DOM) is utilized to render components and manage their interactions within the web application. Components define their views through templates, which are enhanced with Angular directives and binding syntax to facilitate dynamic rendering based on component data. Angular's change detection mechanism ensures synchronization between component state and the DOM, while lifecycle hooks provide opportunities for initialization and cleanup tasks. Angular abstracts direct DOM manipulation, promoting a declarative approach for building scalable and maintainable web applications.
b. React
React uses a Virtual DOM, which allows the developers to make changes to the tree without the need to update the entire tree
In Angular, the Document Object Model (DOM) is abstracted through a Virtual DOM, which serves as a lightweight representation of the actual DOM. Components, written in JSX, define the UI structure and behavior, rendering based on state and props. React efficiently updates the actual DOM by reconciling changes between the Virtual DOM and previous states. Lifecycle methods enable control over component behavior, while "refs" allow for direct DOM manipulation when necessary. This approach prioritizes performance, productivity, and maintainability, empowering developers to create dynamic and responsive user interfaces with ease.
Compilation Process
a. Angular
In Angular, the compilation process involves converting your Angular application's TypeScript code, along with its HTML templates and stylesheets, into JavaScript code that can be executed by the browser. Here's an overview of the compilation process in Angular:
TypeScript: Angular applications are typically written using TypeScript, a superset of JavaScript that adds optional static typing and other features. TypeScript code is compiled into JavaScript code, which is what browsers can execute.
Angular Compiler (ngc): Angular has its own compiler called ngc (Angular Compiler). ngc compiles your Angular application's TypeScript code, HTML templates, and stylesheets into JavaScript code that can be understood by browsers. It also performs various optimizations during the compilation process.
Template Compilation: Angular templates, which are written in HTML with additional Angular-specific syntax, need to be compiled into efficient JavaScript code. During the compilation process, Angular's compiler converts the templates into JavaScript code that efficiently updates the DOM based on changes to the application's data.
Ahead-of-Time (AOT) Compilation (Optional): Angular applications can be compiled ahead of time (AOT) or just-in-time (JIT). AOT compilation involves pre-compiling the application's code and templates during the build process, which can result in faster startup times and better performance in production. JIT compilation, on the other hand, compiles the application's code in the browser at runtime.
**Bundling and Minification: ** Once the TypeScript code, HTML templates, and stylesheets have been compiled into JavaScript, the next step is often to bundle and minify the code. Bundling involves combining multiple JavaScript files into one or a few bundles to reduce the number of requests made by the browser. Minification reduces the size of the JavaScript bundles by removing unnecessary whitespace, comments, and renaming variables to shorter names.
**Output: ** The output of the compilation process is one or more JavaScript bundles, along with any other assets like CSS files and images, that make up your Angular application. These bundles are what you deploy to your web server or serve to your users' browsers.
b. React
In React, the compilation process involves converting your React code, which is typically written using JSX (JavaScript XML syntax) and ES6+ JavaScript, into plain JavaScript that browsers can understand. Here's an overview of the compilation process in React:
JSX and ES6+ JavaScript: React code is often written using JSX syntax, which allows you to write XML-like code within JavaScript. JSX is not directly understood by browsers, so it needs to be compiled into plain JavaScript. Additionally, React developers often use ES6+ JavaScript features like arrow functions, classes, and modules.
Babel: Babel is a popular JavaScript compiler that can transform JSX and ES6+ JavaScript into ES5 JavaScript, which is compatible with a wide range of browsers. Babel parses your React code and generates equivalent code that can run on older browsers.
Webpack (or other bundler): Webpack is a module bundler commonly used in React projects. It takes all of your JavaScript files, along with any other assets like CSS, images, or fonts, and bundles them together into one or more bundles. Webpack also allows for features like code splitting and hot module replacement, which can improve the performance and development experience of your React application.
Development vs. Production Builds: During development, you might want additional features like source maps and hot module replacement to aid in debugging and faster development. In production, however, you typically want to optimize your code for performance and minimize its size. Tools like webpack and Babel can be configured differently for development and production builds to achieve these goals.
**Minification and Optimization: ** In a production build, your JavaScript code is often minified and optimized to reduce its size and improve loading times. This can involve techniques like removing comments and whitespace, renaming variables to shorter names, and even tree-shaking to remove unused code. **Output: ** Once the compilation process is complete, you'll have one or more JavaScript bundles that contain your React code, along with any other assets your application needs. These bundles are what you deploy to your web server or serve to your users' browsers.
Conclusion
Angular and React excel in their unique ways when it comes to web app development. Seek guidance from top custom app development company, relying on their expertise to help you choose the most suitable technology for your requirements.
At Nimblechapps, we believe that both Angular and React technologies are effective for web app development. The choice largely depends on factors such as the features you require, technology aspirations, budget considerations, and more. Explore with a thorough discussion with your development team to get an idea of both Angular and React and how either of the two can benefit your app development idea.