React and Angular are two most popular and widely used web and mobile app development frameworks and naturally the comparison is obvious between them. They are equally powerful JavaScript (JS) technologies and are used to develop interactive single-page applications (SPAs), highly user focused mobile apps and robust enterprise web apps.
Though there is no respite in the growth in the number of JavaScript frameworks, still these two technologies dominate for developing single-page web applications of all types. As most developers confront this choice of two technologies, making a comparison between the two is obvious.
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Introducing React and AngularJS
React and Angular empower too many web apps across several industry niches and consumer web apps of all types. From social media, chat messaging to news and entertainment to travel and enterprise solutions, everywhere these two frameworks have been widely used. Both offer Model–View–Controller protocol which is known for developer friendly attributes.
React
React was developed by Facebook in 2014 and since then it has been widely used by developers across all types of projects. It is one of the most popular and widely acclaimed frameworks to this day. React is a highly scalable, performance driven, versatile and truly flexible framework that helps using the ready to use components across multiple projects. React is considered to enjoy a competitive edge over other javascript frameworks because of its lower learning curve and developer friendly aspects. React is actually a library and so it offers a View component and doesn’t offer Model and Controller components.
Key React features
- React comes with JSX which allows preprocessing for using the XML syntax in Javascript. Though to use JSX with React.js is totally optional. But for clean coding it is widely used.
- React relying on component based architecture can deliver a more complete view. Because of this managing code for large projects becomes easier.
- React also provides Unidirectional Data Flow and Flux which make it extremely easier for the developers.
Pros of React
- React makes use of JavaScript objects or DOM to boost the app performance and speed.
- React is a flexible framework to allow both the client as well as server side development.
- The component based infrastructure and reusability of code helps make it easy for the larger apps.
Cons of React
- React library offers only the view layer of the application and naturally, for other layers the developers need to depend upon other technologies.
- It needs extra work for the developers to use the inline templating and JSX.
Angular
Angular is an older technology which is there for more than a decade now. It is a rich JavaScript framework that went through years of evolution and several version updates over the years. Angular is regarded to be a versatile JavaScript framework offering an extensive range of features for all kinds of web app projects. It is highly scalable, feature rich and performance driven.
Key Angular Features
- Angular is a free and open-source framework.
- Angular is often used to develop high-performance Rich Internet Applications (RIA).
- It is used by web app developers to build client-side apps. Developers can use JavaScript following a Model View Controller (MVC) protocol while using Angular.
- Angular is highly flexible and browser friendly as it is capable of handling browser-specific JavaScript code. Angular apps are fully compliant for different browsers.
Pros of Angular
- Angular is an ideal framework for building single page apps with high quality output and performance.
- Angular by offering data binding to HTML allows easy integration with HTML based websites.
- Angular web apps allow complete unit testing and allows developers to reuse ready to use components.
- Angular allows complete separation of concerns by using dependency injection.
- Angular is a great framework to code minimum while building maximum functionalities.
Cons of Angular
- Angular is a JavaScript framework and because of this it lacks server-side authentication scope.
- AngularJS is totally non-degradable and so if the javascript is disabled all will become invisible apart from the underlying page.
Comparing React vs. Angular
There are too many differences between Angular and React frameworks and these differences can be expressed through some key attributes. Let’s have a look at these key areas where differences are mostly visible.
Component based architecture
Angular
Angular provides a component based architecture and reusable code. But that requires mastering the intricacies of various standardised services, factories, controllers, directives, and several components. As soon as developers can master these, they can reuse many parts across multiple projects.
React
React on the other hand is basically an extensive large JavaScript library that is enriched by the developers by their updates of View components. But the only availability of the View component prevents building React apps without taking help from other technologies for Model and Controller components. For this purpose there are Flux and multiple variants of the technology. React helps develop a very truly simple and efficient way to build a tree of components. Because of such reusable components and clean coding React is so preferred by developers.
Data Binding
Angular
Angular offers two way data binding which is helpful for real time app updating. This is achieved by connecting the Document Object Model (DOM) values to Model data through the Controller.
React
React on the other hand offers only one-way data binding and because of this only directing the flow of data in one direction is possible. But this also benefits the React framework in terms of performance.
Performance and speed
Angular
Thanks to the two way data binding the performance and loading speed of Angular apps is comparatively slower. The data flow in two directions may offer real time updates or feedback but it has its performance issues as well.
React
React because of the one way data binding is free from the extra load Angular apps need to beat. On the other hand, thanks to the virtual Document Object Model of React it allows faster server side rendering. All these attributes ensure a better performance of React apps.
Dependency injection
Angular
Angular facilitates dependency for all objects through dependency injection. It is a direct approach for creating dependency.
React
React on the other hand, doesn’t come with the concept of dependency injection at all. An array of third-party instruments can be used by React developers for this.
Directives and templates
Angular
Angular comes with Directives that allows developers a smart way to organize their code around the DOM. Besides the directives it comes loaded with, Angular developers can also build their preferred directives.
React
For React, there is no difference between templates and directives. The logic of the templates and the directives is required to be written within the template only. Obviously this reduces the complexities for the developers to a great extent.
Conclusion
There is no straightforward answer to what framework is better between these two. React is relatively easier to begin with for the beginners. On the other hand, Angular is very powerful but it requires a little learning curve to ditch.
Author Bio:
Olivia is the senior developer at CMARIX TechnoLabs Pvt. Ltd., a react native development company with years of experience. She loves to write on react native technical blogs and She believes in spreading tech trends. She is an avid reader and loves thinking out of the box to promote new technologies.
