Head to Head: Angular JS vs React JS

Choosing the right framework may have a considerable effect on the success of your online business. Additionally, it can influence your ability to complete the web app development project on time and maintain the code in the future. The number of development frameworks based on Javascript is increasing day by day. Businesses today, are developing their front-end web applications using Javascript frameworks like Angular and React.

JavaScript frameworks bring structure to the code and keep it organized, thus making your business app more scalable and flexible, and the development process – easier resulting in faster project delivery.

Though there are other powerful JS based frameworks as alternatives like the MeteorJS (read more about it here) that are gaining momentum, let’s keep the focus of this comparison between the most popular of them, Angular and React.

Angular JS

AngularJS is an open-source javascript development framework for creating web applications. Moreover, AngularJS is one of the oldest JS-based development framework with the largest global developer community.  AngularJS solves almost all the problems related to single page application by extending the HTML functionalities using directives. In addition, AngularJS framework focuses on getting your web application up and running quickly.

Angular JS: Pros and Cons

Pros

• Large developer community.
• Straightforward UI design and alteration.
• Easy to understand code pattern.
• Provides filter options as per the requirements, to enter and view the data in the application.
• Fast and easy to develop.
• Readily available services make the coding a lot easier.

Cons

• To an untrained eye, it looks complex.
• DOM manipulation may cause development delays, at times.
• AngularJS has a substantial framework size.
• Problems exist in search engine indexing.

React JS

React is a JavaScript library used for designing user interfaces with a complete focus on great rendering performance introduced by Facebook. It is based on MVC architecture. It is also effective for rendering large data sets. React was designed for solving problems which are related to other javascript development framework.

React JS: Pros and Cons

Pros

• React is quite easy to learn.
• One of the most lightweight framework to develop web applications for businesses.
• Good support from the developer community.
• Reuse of previous code is easy in React.

Cons

• It’s a steep learning curve.
• React is a library, not the fully functional framework.
• Developing business web application using ReactJS is little difficult.

Let’s have a look at the comparison between Angular Vs React based on different parameters:

#1 Learning curve

React uses the least abstractions, however, it will take more time to learn the best practices, as there are multiple ways of doing the same thing.

Angular goes 3rd and although after you learn angular you should know everything else associated to it (typescript, MVC…), angular itself is a huge library that requires more time to learn.

#2 Scalability

Angular is easy to scale thanks to its design as well as a powerful CLI.

React claims to be more testable and therefore scalable and I think that is partly true.

#3 3rd party library compatibility

React doesn’t work with DOM. It is pure JavaScript logic and its popularity ensures alternatives for DOM-based libraries in React.

Angular would have done better if not Typescript, that requires type definitions for every library.

#4 Performance

There cannot be a specific verdict in favor of anyone as all of them are comparable in terms of performance. Though React may be a bit faster when it does fully support fiber.

#5 Company’s perspective

Angular has a free open source license and is supported by Google. This makes it probably the best bet for a company, as there are fewer differences between angular practices.

React comes with a patent clause and for some businesses, it could be quite an issue. However, there are also a few alternatives that work in the same way as react and even use the same syntax.

Wrapping Up, we have tried to draw a brief comparison between the two most popular and widely used javascript development framework. ReactJS and AngularJS offer different approaches to web application development for startups and small-scale businesses.

Both Javascript development framework are powerful and easy to use. If you want to build an app with powerful UI, then React would be a better choice for you, and if you really want to build a complex web front-end and need a single modular framework to handle everything, then AngularJS will be an ideal option for you. Depending upon web application development goals and system constraints, businesses can either select AngularJS, ReactJS or any other JS based framework.

If you are looking for a tech partner to help identify the correct JS Framework for you, feel free to connect with us.