As technology is upgrading and developing exponentially, web development is also improving. When we search for JavaScript frameworks to learn or use in our upcoming web development project, we will find angular vs react popping up being the most popular front-end development framework. 

But we might have come across the problem of which framework between these two would be the best to learn. Let’s talk about terms of popularity, main differences, learning curves, and the overall enjoyability of both frameworks.  

What is Angular?

Angular is an open-source framework used for creating web applications, single-page, and hybrid web applications built on TypeScript. It is a full-fledged toolkit that has everything a developer needs to develop large-scale apps such as a collection of well-integrated libraries and features like client-server communications and many more.

It is designed for web, desktop, and mobile platforms. It is constantly upgrading with the latest enhancements led by the Angular team at Google. 

Angular vs AngularJS

First and Foremost, in this blog, There is a detailed explanation of Angular. But there are similar terms we can be confused about. They are Angular and AngularJS and both are different.  

AngularJS is the first version released under Google in 2010. It became one of the highly popular web and JavaScript frameworks in those early years. While Angular is the advanced and updated version.

The main difference between them is that AngularJS is based on JavaScript while Angular is based on TypeScript. On one hand, AngularJS uses terms of MVC architecture i.e. Model, View, and Controller.

On the other hand, Angular uses a hierarchy of Components. AngularJS does not support mobile while Angular supports mobile browsers.

AngularJS has a complex structure, on the other hand, Angular is less complex i.e. has a simple structure. In AngularJS, CLI is not present. While on the other hand, Angular is enabled with angular CLI.

What is React?

React was released as an open-source JavaScript library framework developed by Facebook in 2013. This framework brought the concept of Component-based architecture with react components in web development.

React took over the market and overshadowed most of the frameworks at that time. That’s why Google had to upgrade its JavaScript framework in 2016. 

This provides us with many advantages such as:

• Modular and Cohesive components: These components make them reusable and speed up the development process. 
• Used in Mobile Development: This also enables the developers to reuse the logical part of mobile applications. 
• Easy maintenance and Improvement: the components are self-contained so it makes them easy to maintain. 

Angular Vs React

Main differences

Purpose

Angular contains a full-fledged framework for software development. So, it does not need any additional libraries because it includes functions such as data binding, component-based routing, project generation, dependency injection, and form validation in the Angular package. It offers useful Built-in small libraries while developing complex applications. 

React is a framework for UI development. Thus, applications written in React need to implement additional libraries.

It offers more freedom to the developer to organize the code as per their needs. It greatly requires a View of MVC architecture and needs flux to implement it. 

Data Binding 

Angular utilizes a bidirectional or two-way data binding process and mutable data, meaning when we make changes in UI’s input occur then the model state will also change and vice-versa. 

React, on the other hand, works with a unidirectional or one-way data binding process. Therefore, UI element modification does not change when the state of a component. This improves the debugging process. 

Language

Angular uses TypeScript which is a superset of JavaScript and a statically typed language. Typos are easier to detect in TypeScript making the code easier to navigate. 

React is written in JavaScript ES6+ combined with JSX Script, which contains an extension for syntax by making a JavaScript code similar to HTML. React uses Babel to compile the JSX code in the browser. Also, it can be written in TypeScript but is not included natively. 

UI Components

Angular offers several material design components with diverse layouts, pop-ups, buttons, and many other things. This enables a seamless and fast configuration. 

While using React, it is mandatory to install the Material-UI library and other dependencies to utilize the available material design components.

Dependency Injection

Angular supports dependency injection, which enables it to have distinct life cycles for different stores. 

React does not completely support dependency injection because it consists of a global state for all the components, which does not agree with data immutability and functional programming. 

DOM

Angular uses a real DOM. When a modification is made, the whole tree structure upgrades, which increases the time. It overcomes this disadvantage by using change detection to identify components that need alterations. 

React uses a virtual DOM. Thus, it can make changes in single elements without having to update the entire tree structure. 

Popularity

When deciding which framework is popular it is better to look at its popularity chart. The larger and more active a community is, the faster it gets to find the situation for any unexpected problem that can come our way while coding.

If we analyze the data from Hacker News Tech Tool Trends, we will see that React has bettered Angular in recent years. Stack Overflow claims React to be the most used framework (about 74.5%) while Angular has a lower rate of 57.6%. 

Conclusion: Which one to choose

We are given many frameworks to choose from with each having its advantages. Thus, it becomes quite difficult to decide which one to choose from angular vs react.

If we think about Angular vs React, it generally comes down to personal preference and comfort, as they solve the same problems but with different implementations. 

However, while deciding, it is necessary to know that React has an easier learning curve, which results in faster development, while Angular has more built-in functionalities. 

Both technologies are powerful, which is a great improvement from the early web programming days as now it enhances, facilitate, and speed up the development process. 

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