The world of communication has been greatly enhanced ever since the arrival of smartphones which made it possible to perform online activities while being on the move. This in turn happened as you are already aware because of the numerous apps which were made available at online stores for users to download and use. The technology used to develop such apps differed as per the requirement of the user and the platform over which it was supposed to run. Two such technologies that draw a comparison and are often taken into consideration before deciding the technology to be used are React and Angular. This calls for an attempt to have a look at the react vs angular comparison.

A judicious comparison between react vs angular can be possible if we first examine each of these technologies individually.

Angular

Angular is a JavaScript framework that has been developed and maintained by Google. The language used in its development is Typescript. The first version of Angular was Angular JS which was released in October 2010 and the second version which was released in September 2016, known as Angular is a complete rewrite of the earlier AngularJS. At present, it is version 6 which is currently in use in the market. You might be a bit surprised to know that Google AdWords uses Angular.

React

As you are a bit familiar with what Angular is, an all-round view on the react vs angular discussion can be possible if we happen to know what React is. Well again, React also has a Javascript connection. In fact, it is a JavaScript library and has been developed and maintained by Facebook. It was released in March 2013 and is used for building user interfaces. The point of difference is that the way FaceBook uses React is far more than the usage of Angular at Google.

The architectural pattern of react vs angular:

Library vs framework:

The major difference between react vs angular is that React is a JavaScript Library whereas Angular is a full-fledged MVC framework. Angular has been considered a framework because it has options by which you can structure your application and there are many “out of the box” functionalities that you can use. The downside is that you have to play within the options given by the Angular system. Have a look at the “out of the box” options given by Angular:

• XSS protection.
• Ajax requests by @angular/HTTP.
• Dependency injection.
• Templates are based on an extended version of HTML.
• Utilities for unit-testing components.
• @angular/forms for building forms.
• Component CSS encapsulation.
• Routing, provided by @angular/router.

The main advantage of React is that it gives you more freedom and in the MVC pattern gives you the “view” so that you can choose amongst your customized libraries in order to provide for the M and C on your own. Because of this, you can use your own libraries as you deem fit. The downside here is that you will have to handle all the migrations and corresponding updates all by yourself. These are the “out of the box” functionalities which are provided by React:

• XSS protection.
• Fetch for Ajax requests.
• Utilities for unit-testing components.
• Instead of using classic templates, you have JSX which is an XML – like language built on top of JavaScript.
• No dependency injection.

Regular DOM vs Virtual DOM:

The comparison react vs angular has a striking feature, which is in the way the DOM is handled by the two. React uses a virtual DOM which makes it very fast. Incidentally, Angular uses a regular DOM because a difference in performance does take place in case of large applications.

Templates:

The way React has gone ahead with combining UI templates and inline JavaScript logic was revolutionary. It gave birth to “JSX”. React uses a component by which you can have the markup and logic in the same file. Additionally, it uses an XML like language, using which you can directly write markup in your JavaScript code. You will see for yourself that JSX is of a huge advantage as far as coding is concerned since you have everything in one place and coding and compilation becomes far more efficient.

On the other hand, Angular uses templates which are basically enhanced HTML with Angular directives and you need to know its specific syntax for developmental work. So, when it comes to react vs angular, we need to consider these facts properly.

Data Binding:

Data binding is one of the main areas of difference in the react vs angular discussion. Angular uses a two-way binding, for eg: if you happen to change a user input then there is a change in the corresponding model state. Similarly, if you perform a change in the model state then the UI element or the user input also changes correspondingly.

React on the other hand has a one-way binding. It means that first, you have to update the model state, because of which there is a change in the UI element. But, a word of caution here — if you perform a change in the UI element, there is no change in the model state. So, here React can lose a score in the battle of react vs angular.

Mobile applications of react vs angular:

Well, in the entire React vs Angular discussion this is the most important part since we started our discussion by keeping apps as our main focus area. In fact, both Angular and React are used to develop mobile-based applications.

Angular:

The framework which has a relation with Angular and helps develop hybrid mobile applications is Ionic. It uses a container named Cordova which is incorporated with Angular and provides a robust component library which is very easy to set up. The upside here is that you can easily develop rich hybrid mobile applications using Ionic. And it can increase the score for Angular in the battle of react vs angular.

This blogpost should interest you, as it holds a detailed discussion of similar technologies, do have a look.

React Native:

As you are already aware by now, React Native happens to be a platform that was developed by FaceBook and you can create native mobile applications using React. The plus point here is that React Native can produce a truly native UI. Additionally, you can create your own components and bind them to native code which you have written in Java, Swift, or Objective-C.

Conclusion:

Well, you have had a broad glimpse into the battle of react vs angular. Also, you have seen in detail the comparison of react vs angular. Now, if you want to know which technology to choose for your dream app, you must be clear about the platform, technology, and target audience for which you want to design the app and choose the technology between react vs angular.

We, at Vyrazu Labs, have developed customized applications for clients using both these platforms. So, please get in touch with us FOR A FREE CONSULTATION if you have any requirements for developing applications on these platforms.

Please drop your comments and feedback in order to make this react vs angular engagement more interactive.