Frontend Technologies: Choosing Between React.JS and Angular

Frontend Technologies refer to those tools and technologies used by developers to create the visual and interactive part of a web application.
Frontend technologies make it possible for users to effectively use an application.
With the combination of two or more frontend technologies, developers can build elegant, aesthetic, and visually appealing applications that users will love to use. Popular frontend technologies include but are not limited to: React.JS, Vue.JS, Angular.JS, Bootstrap, etc.

In this article, we are going to explore two modern frontend technologies (React.JS and Angular) by comparing their differences and what makes each of them stand out.

React.JS

React.JS was created by Jordan Walke who is a software engineer at Facebook. Facebook developed it and it was first deployed in the year 2011.
React.JS is a JavaScript library popularly used by web developers for creating component based user interfaces. It utilizes HTML and JavaScript in the form of JSX for building applications. In React.JS, the whole application is built in different components making it easier for the developer to reuse the components in the course of development and offering better interactivity.

Here are the things that make React.JS stand out as the most popular front technologies.

1. React is easy to learn. It is an open source that is available for anyone to use, contribute, and modify. It has a robust documentation.
2. It is used to build a single-page application (SPA).
3. React is very flexible.
4. Because of its reusability feature, it offers consistency and reduces redundancy of codes.
5. With React, developers build applications using small and isolated pieces of code called components. Each component has its own style and features. These components can be used across the application. This feature helps developers in debugging.
6. React can be integrated into a wide range of backend technologies like Laravel, Django, Node.JS, etc.
7. React offers speed and efficiency to developers.
8. Updates and code maintainability can easily be done in components that can be used across the application.
9. React also offers application optimization and increases load speed.
10. React helps in server-side rendering which helps to improve the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of a web application.

Angular

Angular is a JavaScript framework used for developing responsive and dynamic web applications. Angular was developed and maintained by Google in 2010. It was created by Misko Hevery and his team at Google.
It is worthy to note that, Angular.JS and Angular which are always used interchangeably has a differences between them.

Angular.JS can simply be referred to as the older version (Angular1), which was based on plain JavaScript.
Later, a newer version was released which is now known as Angular. This newer version (Angular2) is based on TypeScript and it is the one in use currently.

However, out of the box, Angular offers the following features in web development.

1. TypeScript Integration: Angular is written in TypeScript making it a static type variable of JavaScript framework, unlike React which is loosely typed.
2. Angular enhances Two-Way Data Binding: This is achieved by synchronizing the model and view of the application.
3. Angular directly supports the Model View Controller (MCV) architecture of web application. This feature helps developers to effectively manage and scale large projects.
4. Angular applications are built in modules and not components.
5. It offers a built-in testing tool like Karma which can streamline the development process.
6. Angular offers enterprise support to large organization users.

However, Angular has some drawbacks that hinder the development process, this can be seen in the areas outlined below.
Angular requires a deep learning structure before one can effectively use it for development, unlike React which is more beginner-friendly. Anyone with a basic knowledge of JavaScript can easily use React. JS.

React is loosely typed making it easier to write, unlike Angular which is strictly typed with TypeScript.

Angular applications if not properly optimized may face performance issues. The application size can also affect load time thereby affecting user experience.

Angular has a more complex component structure than React.

Meanwhile, having used React.JS for some time in my personal and team projects, I enjoy working with React. It offers simplicity and is beginner-friendly. It is easy to understand.
From my experience, React applications can easily be hosted to free hosting platforms like Vercel.

Many tech companies are training interns on how to utilize the robust feature of React to build applications.
At, HNG internship, frontend interns are expected to undergo a rigorous and fast-paced internship learning and developing applications with React.

I am glad to be part of this internship because it also offers a placement to the finalist through which recruiters can hire.

I am available to learn and build web applications in this program using React as my core front-end technology.
By the end of this internship, I expect that I will have gained the experience needed to develop complex and functional user interfaces of an application using React and other frontend technologies.