ReactJS Vs AngularJS: A detailed comparison

Front-end Javascript developers have been finding the task of choosing between ReactJS and AngularJS a cumbersome task. Which to prefer? What gives one an edge over the other? Which gives the maximum output with minimum effort and time? You may find that the list is queries is never ending. With this post, I would like to answer some of these queries, lets dig deep into some distinctive features of React and Angular that sets them apart.   

Basic Features

Features	Angular Js	React Js
Author	Google	Facebook
Language	JS/typescript/HTML	JSX
Latest stable version	1.5.7	15.1.0
Github stats	46.4k stars 1,386 contributors	34.4k stars 604 contributors
Code Design	JS → HTML	JS centric
Packaging	Weak	Strong
Binding	2 way	Uni-directional
Templating	In HTML	In JSX
Model	MVC	View layer only
Mobile spread	Ionic framework	React native

Stat says it all. Angular JS is our rich guy which has already piled in the dev soil and brace yourself, Angular JS 2.0 is coming. But React JS is a newbie when compared with AngularJS. Javascript fatigue is a major separation between React and Angular. A ReactJS developer must have experienced fatigue but somehow AngularJS holds the edge over React as it is tagged with factors like HTML and MVC etc. However, React is easily understandable when compared  to AngularJS as we need to know only JavaScript to understand it. However, to understand AngularJS, you should be familiar with AngularJS syntax.

Advantages of ReactJS

• Fast rendering

Rendering is the main feature that makes React ideal. ReactJS renders faster than angularJS. React uses several clever techniques to minimize the number of costly DOM operations required to update the UI. ReactJS is also known for using virtual DOM and avoids reconciling the DOM. Parallel representation in single DOM itself plays the heroic role to achieve the same.

• Explicit and fast fails on error

ReactJS throws error upon compilation itself, the JSX compiler specifies the line number where the typo occurred, which helps the developer to debug and save valuable time developing time. On the flip side, AngularJS  will fail at the run time rather than compile time which in turn can confuse the coder.

• JS centric

A JS developer can easily understand React code, however, this is not the case with AngularJS, digesting AngularJS code can be time-consuming and even for a professional AngularJS developer. Anyways, we need to stick the JS and HTML for awesome things to happen. So JS-centric approach can be a winner rather than Angular’s, Ember’s HTML-centric approach. Keep in mind that react puts HTML into JS while the others puts JS into HTML.

• JSX technique

JSX is an HTML-like syntax that compiles down to JavaScript. Both markup and HTML is gathered in the same file. Composing components in a single compile-time checked file is one of the big reasons JSX is so special.

Advantages of AngularJS

• Wide community support

Only this single point is enough to make AngularJs the king of front-end technologies. JavaScript developers loves this as much as they can and designers are shifting towards this big thing. A wide global supporting community is present to help an AngularJS developer, which increases its reliability and credibility.

• Full framework

AngularJS codes are robust and platform independent. These can be run in any platforms and browsers. Almost all Angular components  are pretty mature when compared with React. AngularJS, basically uses intensive and careful reinventions which will give developer team freedom to develop by anticipating the requirements. This will reduce the churn for re-coding with respect to time. ReactJS uses a bunch of libraries which is time-consuming and these are fast moving ones which makes the developer stuff never ending.

• Less fatigue

AngularJS is fully fledged framework which gives you anything you want. However, React needs a set of libraries even for basic things which are necessary in every application. Anyone can get into the app or the dev team due its consistency. When compared to the react features AngularJS is overwhelming and stays out of the box.

• Two-way binding

Must say this is the top advantage among the lot. Every slight change in the data can affect the UI and vise versa, no extra effort is needed for syncing of data in the view and model. On the other side, ReactJS is unidirectional and DOM is to be flushed or updated for the new updates.

At the verge of decision

Both ends seem to be stronger than each other. It’s the developer who needs to select the way. One way is abundant and is used by many one. The opposite way is less used but rich in performance. If you need simple and fast app, you go with ReactJS. But if you have rich data transfers and UI components, you better stick to the big dad in the fight, AngularJS.

Happy Coding !

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