In today’s world, web development has become an integral part of business success. As businesses continue to evolve, web development technologies and frameworks are also evolving. One such framework that has gained significant popularity is Angular. However, before we delve deeper into Angular, we need to first understand its predecessor, AngularJS.
AngularJS was developed by Google in 2010 and released to the public in 2012. It is an open-source front-end web application framework that allows developers to create dynamic and interactive web pages. AngularJS was built using JavaScript and it quickly gained popularity among developers due to its simplicity, flexibility, and ease of use.
However, as web development evolved, so did the requirements of developers. AngularJS, being an older framework, could not keep up with the new requirements and demands of modern web applications. Therefore, in 2016, Google released Angular, the successor to AngularJS.
Angular, also known as Angular 2+, is a complete rewrite of AngularJS. It is a full-featured, modern front-end web application framework built using TypeScript, a superset of JavaScript that adds additional features and syntax to JavaScript. Angular was designed to address the shortcomings of AngularJS and to provide developers with a modern and efficient framework that can handle the needs of modern web applications.
In this blog post, we will explore the differences between AngularJS and Angular, and how they have evolved over the years. We will also look at the key features of Angular that make it a popular choice among developers.
Differences between AngularJS and Angular
The main difference between AngularJS and Angular is that Angular is a complete rewrite of AngularJS. Angular was built from the ground up with modern web development requirements in mind. Some of the key differences between AngularJS and Angular are:
- Language
AngularJS is built using JavaScript, while Angular is built using TypeScript. TypeScript is a superset of JavaScript that adds additional features and syntax to JavaScript. TypeScript was developed by Microsoft and is now an open-source language.
- Architecture
AngularJS uses a Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture, while Angular uses a component-based architecture. In Angular, everything is a component, which makes it easier to manage and reuse code.
- Speed
Angular is faster than AngularJS. Angular uses Ahead-of-Time (AOT) compilation, which compiles the code at build time, making it faster to load and run. AngularJS, on the other hand, uses Just-in-Time (JIT) compilation, which compiles the code at runtime, making it slower to load and run.
- Mobile-friendly
Angular is mobile-friendly, while AngularJS is not. Angular uses responsive design, which means that the web application can adjust to different screen sizes and devices. This is essential in today’s world, where most people access websites using their mobile devices.
Key features of Angular
Angular is a full-featured, modern front-end web application framework that provides developers with the tools they need to create dynamic and interactive web pages. Some of the key features of Angular are:
- Components
In Angular, everything is a component. Components are the building blocks of an Angular application. They are reusable, easy to manage, and easy to test.
- TypeScript
Angular uses TypeScript, a superset of JavaScript that adds additional features and syntax to JavaScript. TypeScript provides developers with strong typing, which makes it easier to catch errors at compile time.
- Reactive programming
Angular uses reactive programming to manage data. Reactive programming is a programming paradigm that focuses on data streams and the propagation of changes.
- RxJS
RxJS is a library for reactive programming in Angular. RxJS provides developers with a way to manage asynchronous operations and data streams in a reactive way.
Some of the key features of Angular include:
- Improved performance: Angular has a faster rendering engine and supports lazy loading, which makes it ideal for building large-scale web applications.
- Mobile-friendly: Angular is mobile-friendly and supports responsive design, which ensures that your application looks great on any device.
- Cross-platform: Angular can be used to develop web, desktop, and mobile applications, making it a versatile framework.
- Testing: Angular comes with built-in testing tools that make it easy to test your code and catch errors early in the development process.
- Dependency Injection: Angular uses a dependency injection mechanism that allows you to write modular and reusable code, making it easier to maintain and scale your application.
- Reactive Programming: Angular supports reactive programming and provides many tools and libraries for building reactive applications.
- Community support: Angular has a large and active community of developers who contribute to the framework and provide support and resources for developers.
In summary, AngularJS and Angular are two powerful and popular JavaScript frameworks that are used by developers to build dynamic and responsive web applications. While AngularJS is a mature and stable framework that has been used by many developers for over a decade, Angular is a modern and powerful framework that offers many new features and capabilities. Both frameworks have their strengths and weaknesses, and the choice of which one to use depends on the specific needs and requirements of your project.