Confused between AngularJS and ReactJS? Let’s make it simpler for you!

Sahil Miglani
7 min readFeb 4, 2022
AngularJS and ReactJS

In today’s technologically advanced world, web development is the backbone of the majority of businesses. The correct tech stack and developer for your project will define your product’s flexibility, scalability, interoperability, and future, as well as help you expedite and scale your company’s operations.

Furthermore, JavaScript developers have always struggled to choose between ReactJS and AngularJS. Don’t worry if you’re one of those developers; you’re not alone. In this article, we will compare the differences between AngularJS and ReactJS in great detail so that you can make an informed decision. We’ll compare the popularity of ReactJS vs AngularJS, as well as technical components, advantages, disadvantages, and other factors.

So let’s begin by understanding AngularJs and ReactJs.

AngularJS

AngularJS is an open-source, typescript-based web application framework for front-end web development. It is actively supported by Google and an individual developer community. It is a full-featured javascript framework for creating dynamic applications using HTML syntaxes.

Businesses that use AngularJS

angular js

Google, Nike, Forbes, Sony.

Characteristics of AngularJS

  • AJAX, HTTP, and Observables are all supported by default.
  • It has the support of a huge number of people.
  • Typescript makes coding more efficient, clear, and exact.
  • It adds extensive error handling support.
  • It uses the Angular CLI to provide continuous and regular updates.
  • Many templates and IDEs are included to help speed up and simplify the development process.

ReactJS

ReactJs is a JavaScript library that is used to create UI interfaces or UI components. It has also brought an incredible number of people from its community together. React.JS has gained enormous and widespread popularity. It is an excellent choice for anyone who is new to using JavaScript frameworks, as well as for startups and flexibility developers.

react js

Businesses that use React JS

Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, Netflix.

Characteristics of ReactJS

  • It enables one-way data binding.
  • It supports the use of third-party libraries.
  • It includes a useful developer’s toolkit.
  • Virtual DOM provides an excellent user experience.
  • Lifecycle methods allow for faster development.
  • Conditional statements in JSX make displaying data in the browser much easier

With the basic understanding of AngularJS and ReactJS, let’s now delve deeper into the question-

What is the difference between AngularJS and ReactJS?

Angular JS is a popular open-source front-end web framework for creating single-page desktop and mobile web applications. AngularJS comes as a comprehensive package with built-in 2-way data binding. The difference between ReactJS and AngularJS is that the former is a library rather than a framework.

React JS enables us to create reusable user interface components for desktop and mobile web applications. ReactJS’s data flow is unidirectional.

The real “Document Object Model” (DOM), i.e. the programming interface for HTML and XML documents, is updated by Angular. React, on the other hand, modifies the virtual DOM.

Typescript, a statically built language with static typing, classes, and interfaces, is used by Angular. Writing code in Typescript makes it more resilient since it aids in the detection and elimination of frequent faults. React, on the other hand, makes use of JavaScript.

The condition of administration is the fundamental difference between React JS and Angular JS. AngularJS, of course, includes information restriction, whereas React is primarily enhanced by Redux to provide unidirectional information streams and work with persistent data.

AngularJS VS ReactJS: Comparison

1. Popularity and Growth

The more popular a technology becomes, the more career opportunities it creates. In comparison to Angular, React already has more GitHub repositories with the highest fork and view rates. According to the NPM trend, there is a significant difference in the number of downloads between React and Angular. React is the most popular framework, with more than three times the number of downloads as Angular. When comparing the popularity of ReactJS and AngularJS in 2020, Stack Overflow Trends shows that React has the highest proportion, followed by Angular. React is clearly more popular than Angular, as evidenced by the aforementioned statistics. But it is not fair to declare one tool as the sole winner of the ReactJS vs AngularJS debate because both have distinct use cases and applications.

2. Productivity and Developmental Speed

Third-party libraries and tools are frequently used in React. This has a significant impact on its production. Developers must choose the best architecture mix for their project based on its requirements. However, because React allows you to reuse existing code and employ the hot reloading approach, it substantially speeds up development.

By using one-line commands, Angular’s CLI allows developers to quickly design fully functioning apps and produce components and services. Furthermore, Angular’s hierarchical dependency injection makes the classes self-contained. They get their energy from outside sources, which boosts the performance of Angular mobile apps.

3. Data Binding

Data binding is a method for connecting the application’s user interface to the data provided by the supplier and consumer. AngularJS employs two-way data binding, which simply means that when a user interacts with a given field, the application receives a new value and vice versa. It simultaneously updates the view and the model.

ReactsJS is well-known for supporting one-way binding, which means it provides unique behavior to your web or mobile application. Their plan is to have a centralized source of information. It not only separates the classes but also reduces the risk of errors and simplifies the code.

4. Learning Curve

Despite the fact that Google’s AngularJS provides multiple methods for solving a specific problem, its complex component management system and the requirement for familiarity with various concepts and languages such as templates, pipes, and RxJS make this front-end framework difficult to understand at first. In contrast, Angular has a steep learning curve. However, once you’ve mastered it, it’s a joy to work with.

Learning the React library, on the other hand, is less difficult than learning AngularJS. It includes a number of helpful resources that make it simple for beginners who want to create a web application for desktops and mobile devices

5. Toolkit

Angular’s toolset, like React’s, includes a number of code editors, such as Sublime Text, Web Storm, and Visual Studio Code. The Angular command-line tool is used to set up the project, and Angular Universal handles the server-side rendering.

React makes use of code editors such as Sublime Text, Atom, and Visual Studio Code. It uses the Create React App tool to get the project started, and the server-side rendering is handled by the Next.js framework. For testing the React project, multiple tools for various aspects are required.

AngularJS vs ReactJS: Conclusion

Aside from the main characteristics and various features, which framework to choose between Angular and ReactJS is a matter of skills and personal preferences.

After going through this Angular vs React article, I hope that you were able to realize that selecting the right framework is dependent on your project’s requirements, levels, and goals. As discussed in this article, each framework has its own set of characteristics. After learning what are the differences between Angular and React, you can decide which framework to use. However, if you are a beginner, ReactJS is a better alternative than AngularJS because it is easier to learn and has more job opportunities.

To put it simply-

When Should You Use ReactJS? When you are proficient in HTML, CSS, and Javascript. Your project necessitates a unique, tailored app solution.

When Should You Use AngularJS? When you have experience with Java, C#, and previous versions of Angular. Your application’s complexity ranges from Low to Medium. You prefer ready-to-use solutions and require greater efficiency.

FAQs-

Ques- What do you understand about AngularJS?

Ans- AngularJS is a free and open-source framework for building dynamic web apps. It is available for anybody to use, modify, and share without restriction. AngularJs was created by Google.

Ques- What exactly is ReactJS?

Ans- ReactJS is a free and open-source front-end JavaScript library used to create user interfaces based on UI components for single-page applications. Jordan Walke, a Facebook software engineer, was the first to create ReactJs.It is maintained by Meta and a community of individual developers and companies.

Ques- What are the fundamental differences between ReactJs and AngularJs?

Ans- AngularJs is a complete framework, whereas ReactJs is a library. ReactJs use the virtual DOM and one-way data binding, whereas AngularJs use the actual DOM and two-way data binding. There’s also a difference in speed, with ReactJs being faster, as well as a difference in bundle size, with ReactJs being smaller.

Ques- ReactJs or AngularJs: Which is better for beginners?

Ans- Although AngularJs provides everything you need to construct a project, the constraints, and regular updates, as well as TypeScript, make it difficult for a beginner to stay up. ReactJS, on the other hand, is easier to get started with and only requires a basic understanding of JavaScript. Start with ReactJS if you’re a beginner.

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Sahil Miglani

Co-founder at Geekster working to help students build great careers, Started my journey with Yahoo as Developer succeeding to a Product Developer with Pinterest