If you are a frontend developer, it’s likely you have worked with Angular or React. In recent times, we have seen the popularity and proliferation of React steadily increase, especially among new developers and start-ups. Traditionally, Angular has been the dominant frontend framework with Google releasing new versions every few years (Angular 7 at the time of writing). What has caused the uptake of React opposed to Angular and what are the key differences amongst the two?
Angular, developed by Google in 2010, is JavaScript framework written in TypeScript. React, developed by Facebook in 2013, is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces. Companies such as Forbes and Wix use Angular while the likes of Twitter, Netflix and Uber use React.
Angular is a fully-fledged MVC framework that offers many ‘out of the box’ functionalities. Angular is a complete framework that uses a two-directional data flow process. React on the other hand is merely a JavaScript library, it only provides the view (V) in MVC. React is only concerned with one-directional data flow but can be bundled with other programming libraries.
Angular offers quite a lot of advantages to developers and companies alike. It has a very credible background and a strong community support system. Angular is used more globally than React which has led to more tutorials and open-source contributions being available online. Angular is also quick to set up and a common part of many developers’ tech stacks. However, Angular has a steep learning curve and due to the excess syntax for the simplest things, coding times are increased which inevitably delays projects.
This is a key influencing factor in the rise of React. React does not have a steep learning curve and it enables developers to create projects and build apps quicker than Angular. Code can be easily reproduced and copied streamlining developer’s work. React is also considered to be more stable than Angular due to its single-direction data flow. Developers are growing very fond of React with GitHub and StackOverflow statistics conveying this fact. React is the leading choice for 66.9% of developers with Angular lagging behind at 51.7%. React’s developer community is growing stronger every year being backed by the likes of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. Community support is very influential to the popularity of a language, as the support for React continues to rise, the popularity of React will rise accordingly.
What does this all mean to you as a developer? Future proofing your tech stack is always highly recommended and with the rate of change in the technology industry increasing year on year, this recommendation stands true. If you are a developer using Angular, there is a plentiful supply of vacancies in well-respected companies. However, this could all change in a matter of years. As previously mentioned, new dominant forces in the tech industry such as Netflix and Twitter use React with start-ups often favouring React due to its reduced learning curve.
Adding React to your knowledge base would serve to future proof your tech stack, (before Vue takes over but that’s a story for another day). If you are already familiar with JavaScript, then learning to work with React won’t be much of a hurdle.
It is hard to definitively say which framework is better as they both offer their own sets of advantages and disadvantages. On the other hand, it is easy to definitively say that React’s popularity is continually growing with the framework fast becoming the frontend framework of choice for a significant amount of companies and developers.
Posted by Borna Zuber on 21 May 2019
