March 3, 2021 7 MIN by Maulik Shah

React vs Angular: A Years Old Debate and Here’s the Conclusion
Angular React Web development

In this article

Choosing between React and Angular can be challenging due to their popularity and effectiveness. In this article we’ll see pros and cons to different project requirements.

Pizza vs French Fries? If you were to pick between one of them, what would be your choice?
Tough right?

The same way when it comes to choosing from two great frameworks React and Angular, it is not a cakewalk!

However, based on what your business or requirements demand, by going through thoroughly we have the conclusion today!

So, React vs Angular, let’s begin!

A Little bit about React

React, developed by Facebook was initially launched in 2013. It is predominantly utilized as a front-end JavaScript library for building UIs.

It allows the programmers to figure out how their app is going to look for their users and how they will interact.

It is an open-source, component-based framework for the applications view layer. It is based on the MVC(Model View Controller) architecture, the view layer handles how the app looks and feels.

The current stable version available is 17X which helps in upgrading your app easily.

A Little bit about Angular

Angular, developed by Google, was first launched in 2010. It is a type-script based JavaScript framework. As a client-side MVC JavaScript framework you can develop dynamic applications.

Though released in 2010, a large shift happened on the release of Angular 2(Original name – AngularJS) in 2016. With the release of Angular 2, it became even more popular.

It is completely based on HTML and JavaScript, so there is no necessity of learning some other language. It expands the capacity of HTML by adding built-in attributes and components.

Also, Angular 10 is the latest stable version, released in June 2020.

Key Difference

React depends on Virtual DOM, whereas Angular depends on MVC (Model View Controller). If you require an entire presentation of the model including managing data, and user interaction on the model, you should select Angular.
React is the JavaScript library that allows you to create UI parts. While Angular is a framework for creating web applications. If you have the vision to develop an entire web application rather than UI components, Angular is your way to go.
React is a JavaScript hinged framework while Angular is a Typescript-based framework. Select the platform based on language. If you have a strong foundation of JavaScript then you can use React or Angular in the case of TypeScript.
React requires a bunch of instruments to perform testing. Angular offers testing and debugging for the entire project. If you need software that offers effortless testing and debugging you can use Angular.
React allows you to add a JavaScript library to the source code and Angular doesn’t.

Pros of React

Effortless to use and learn

ReactJS is straightforward to learn and use. It has a good amount of documentation and other training resources for guiding. The developers with a JavaScript foundation can begin making web applications in a couple of days.

Enhancing Performance

ReactJS boosts the performance due to the virtual DOM. Many developers faced the issue when DOM was updated, which affected the performance of the application. ReactJS resolved this issue by presenting virtual DOM.

Virtual DOM is a portrayal of the web browser’s DOM and exists completely in memory. So, when you write the react component, you are not writing directly to the DOM. All things considered, you are composing virtual parts that will transform into DOM.

Benefit of Library

ReactJS becomes the preference of web developers as it offers a very rich JavaScript library. The JavaScript library offers more flexibility to web developers.

Easy in Testing

ReactJS applications are effortless to test. It offers the advantage of testing to the developer and debugging their codes with the help of tools.

Cons of React

Perplexed JSX

ReactJS uses JSX. It is a syntax extension that allows HTML AND JavaScript to amalgamate. This has its own benefits but many developers see it as a barrier, especially for the new developers.

Bad Documentation

Poor documentation is a common disadvantage of constantly updating technologies. ReactJS updates very quickly, so sometimes it lacks documentation. This makes it tough for developers to understand the new features.

View Part

ReactJS only covers the View part in MVC (Model View Controller) architecture. So, you still need to rely on some other tools for the development objects.

Key Features

It is fully supported by Facebook.
It allows you to utilize 3rd party libraries.
Offers better user experience and quick development.
The stability of code with one-directional data binding.
JSX feature in React helps in creating a better ReactJS element very efficiently.
Virtual DOM creates a copy of DOM, which gives the idea to the programmers how their app is going to look for their users.

Pros of AngularJS

No-requirement of many languages

HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are to work on AngularJS. So, there is no need to learn other scripting languages.

Open-source

AngularJS is an open-source MVC JavaScript framework. As it is open-source it is available to anyone at an affordable rate. It offers the benefit of effectively changing the source code to give an explanation. One can make many changes to satisfy the customer.

Google Supported

AngularJS is the framework supported by Google. So, you have the benefit of usual updates and anytime access ability to the corporate intranet by google backed sites.

DOM Manipulation

Angular completely relieves the developer to manipulate DOM (Document Object Method). All thanks to its two-way data binding approach that reduces the stress of developers.

Cons of AngularJS

Less Secure

There is a lack of server authorization and authentication in Angular. Authorization means giving consent to reach data and identify the user by checking credentials.

Other features

In AngularJS, features like factories and dependency injections can be difficult for more traditional developers.

Memory Issue

It is a framework of JavaScript and sometimes there is an issue of memory leak in JavaScript. Whenever the application requires the memory due to some factors it doesn’t come back to the pool of memory. It causes an issue like slow down and crashes.

No-Certain way

Angular is a vast and complex framework. There are many ways to perform the same task so it is arduous to choose which is a good way to perform certain tasks.

Key Features

It has large community support.
It has built-in support for AJAX and HTTP.
TypeScript offers efficiency.
It offers enhanced support for handling errors.
MVC model boosts the worth of the framework.
Cleaner and crisp coding with AngularJS.

So what to Choose?

Like every technology has its own pros and cons, React and Angular are nothing different. Before choosing any framework and React JS development company, you should know about it and whether you are compatible with it or not.

You can choose the React if you have knowledge about HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Or when you need to create shareable components in your app projects.

You should choose Angular or Angular JS development company when you need ready-to-use solutions with high productivity. Even if you have a knowledge of Java, C#, and previous versions of Angular you can go for it.

Thank you to our guest author Maulik Shah, the CEO of Biztech, AngularJS Development Company from India. Maulik likes to explore beyond his comfort zone and is always open to share with us his knowledge.

What else to read?

Move up