The Best Framework For Your Next App

Most of us can endlessly look at three things: burning fire, running water, and how developers argue about the best JavaScript framework.

Useful remark here: in the presence of React adherents, it is better not to call it a framework because it is a library.

There are numerous front-end frameworks, and we are not intended to start another holy war on which is better. There is already enough reasoning on this topic. The primary purpose of this material is to help you find the technology to work within 2021.

In this article, we’ll cover two of the most popular: #React and #Angular, as these two have been the gossip amongst the developer community. Click To Tweet

We will also talk about the benefits of Angular, its possible drawbacks, the great advantages of React, and its limitations for various web projects.

What Framework to Choose for Your Application?

With the advances in technology and the increasing demand for responsive design, there have been developed frameworks that allow you to create web products much faster than writing a front-end in pure JavaScript. But, do not overestimate the importance of selecting a specific tool — a detailed study will make it easier to find out specific features and characteristics. Either way, you will learn the concepts that apply to web development in general.

JavaScript is the core for most web applications and has a wide assortment of tools in its ecosystem for solving web problems. Having plenty of tools, developers find it challenging to answer which front-end JavaScript framework is best for their next big project. If you’re still following the debate over whether React or Angular is the best bet, then it’s time to check out the stats.

How To Choose a Technology Stack For Your Web App in 2021

Where do you start? If you look at the results of the 2020 survey on the most favorite web framework, the gap between React and Vue.js is just under 3%. Now the situation does not look as straightforward as after the first graph. There’s no wonder that so many startups are looking for VueJS development services nowadays.

Github Stars — by the number of stars the repository has, you can easily tell about the popularity of something among developers. React now has 162K stars when Angular received 69.9K.

It is crucial to figure out what you will be using the framework for. Think about your current situation and needs.

If you are looking for a job, monitor the vacancies’ requirements, find out which of them has a higher demand at the moment, which is more interesting to you. When choosing a framework for your team’s next project, consider your team skill set. Analyze if it is beneficial to overcome the steeper learning curve for further development, for example, in Angular.

React

The framework is trendy, especially in startups. The purpose of React was to divide the user interface into a set of components to simplify the development process. React offers simple and functional component design and promotes using its component libraries to maintain clean API code. All component templates are built using JSX, and it may differ from what you are got used to. Having a large collection of extensions in React is great, but it may not be evident for beginner developers.

Some companies using React:

Facebook, Instagram, Atlassian, Codepen, Pinterest, Asana, Revolut, Discord.

Features:

• Component-oriented;
• Declarative;
• Productive (thanks to React Virtual DOM);
• Server rendering;
• The presence of Redux;
• PWA support;
• JSX.

Disadvantages:

Using templates interspersed with JSX may seem confusing to a beginner. The indirectness of the choice of project development stages can usually be fixed only by experienced managers.

Angular

Angular is widely used in the enterprise environment (where it has many followers) as its architecture is designed for large projects. It can be considered a little more mature. Angular provides more out of the box with a better CLI than React, making it easier to develop reliable solutions. The code is a little oversaturated and complicated, but this is a matter of habit.

Features:

• Universal;
• Native;
• Used with Typescript;
• Smart autocomplete HTML component;
• MVP model.

Such giants use the framework as Microsoft, Google, Deutsche Bank, Mixer, and Forbes, Iponweb, IsSoft, Positive Technology, Sitecore, Netcraker.

Downsides:

• Poor performance, though it can be fixed with Change Detection Strategy.
• The availability of a mass of various structures (Modules, Components, Injectables, Pipes) makes it difficult for a young specialist.

Factors to consider while choosing between React and Angular

Flexibility

Compared to Angular, React is more flexible. But there are also advantages to Angular: you don’t have to come up with your own implementation, just follow the rules.

Instruments

Both frameworks provide CLI, making it easier to build new projects and maintain continuous development. Plus, they both get along well with popular IDEs like VS Code and Atom.

Performance

Of course, performance can vary depending on the situation, but in general, both frameworks are pretty fast — as they haven’t randomly become so popular. Performance is usually not the main criterion when choosing between the listed frameworks. Due to a large number of Angular features, when moving your project into heavy applications, it will decrease performance compared to React.

Conclusion

It’s always exciting to see how web design continues to change. Both libraries offer similar functionality, and mastering either of them will undoubtedly benefit any developer. Which framework is the best is a subjective question as you always need to estimate the project’s requirements, project scope, the development team skillset, and trace the future trends. By considering all these key differences, I hope you can decide which is the best front-end framework for your goals and needs and use it to lead you to your goal faster than others.

Select Angular if you need:

• To make a large and multifunctional app.
• Reliability and scalability.
• Real-time applications.
• Native apps, or web apps that are long-term and substantial investment projects.
• Programming in TypeScript and object-oriented programming.

Select React if you need:

• To launch lightweight enterprise-grade apps within the shortest possible time.
• Cross-platform or single-page applications.
• Optimized performance and secure solutions for website development.
• To expand the functionality of the existing app.
• Better booting time and memory.
• Mature community support.