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What is Angular?

Calling itself “the modern web developer’s platform”, Angular’s capabilities go from prototype all the way through to global deployment. Angular was introduced by Miško Hevery at Google in 2010 and was praised as the golden child of JavaScript frameworks. Today, the Angular ecosystem is made up of more than 1.7 million developers, library authors and content creators.

I’m new here…tell me about Angular for beginners

Angular is an open-source web development platform built on TypeScript. It’s able to scale projects, from single developer apps through to enterprise-level apps.

More specifically, Angular is used for frontend development. In other words, it takes care of the user interfaces that people see and interact with. Angular provides a structure or framework that developers can use to build sustainable applications. This framework comes in handy, as it means developers don’t have to rewrite code from scratch, boosting efficiency and performance – and ultimately getting projects over the line faster.

Used to build applications for web, mobile web, native mobile and native desktop, Angular lets developers reuse code to deploy apps across a range of platforms with minimum effort.

What are the benefits of Angular?

For a long time, Angular was considered the “default” frontend tool for developers. Still one of the most popular tools in tech stacks across the globe, Angular is packed with features that deliver benefits to developers looking for speed, scalability and performance.

  • Angular offers out-of-the-box functionality. There’s no need to use third party software for basic app functionality, routing, developing or testing.
  • The Angular framework allows for one specific way to develop a product or module, which creates consistency and makes it easier for new developers to jump onto a project.
  • Angular is designed to support easy code maintenance. When upgrading to a new version, all components – including HTTP and routing – are also updated.
  • Cross-platform capabilities allow for the build of progressive web apps, native mobile apps and desktop apps.
  • Developers can enjoy speed and productivity in a number of ways. For example, Angular turns user templates into code that’s optimised for JavaScript virtual machines.

What is Angular mainly used for?

SINGLE PAGE APPLICATIONS (SPAs)

SPAs are dynamic applications. This means that when a user interacts with the app, there’s no need to reload pages from the server, although the data is still received and returned in the usual way. Traditionally, apps were solely multi-page applications (MPAs). A new page would be reloaded from the server with every click, which was time-consuming and slowed down websites.

LARGE ENTERPRISE APPS

Angular has solid maintenance and scalability skills, and is therefore a popular framework of choice for large organisations. It can be used to build out internal systems and workflows, such as platforms for payment processing and content management.

Angular vs AngularJS: What’s the difference?

Angular has undergone a few facelifts on its journey. In 2016, the framework was completely rewritten by Google to ensure it stayed relevant amongst modern-day developers. As of 2019, it was listed as the third most used web framework by professional developers.

With all the different versions available, it’s easy to get confused. We’re going to take a look at the difference between Angular and AngularJs, to try to bring a bit of clarity to the terms.

AngularJS was the first version of the framework (known to some as Angular 1). Angular is a newer version, the main comparison being related to language. Angular is a TypeScript alternative to AngularJs, which is written in JavaScript.

Here’s a snapshot of some more key differences between the two:

  • Angular is based on a hierarchy of components and has standard directives.
  • Angular supports mobile builds.
  • Angular uses two types of directives – structural and attributive. Attributive directives change the appearance or behaviour of an element, component or other directive, while structural directives change the DOM layout by adding and removing DOM elements.
  • AngularJS uses a pack of directives.
  • AngularJS doesn’t support mobile builds.
  • AngularJS is built on a Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture which is the central component taking care of the behaviour of applications.

With the introduction of React, is Angular dying?

The question on the lips of many developers and businesses is: is there enough room for both Angular and React?

React was introduced by Facebook as a JS library specifically suited to UI development. Both are frameworks for building web apps and as the market skews towards React, there are questions around the relevancy of Angular in the modern day.

However, for most projects, React can’t become a direct substitute for Angular, which isn’t going anywhere for a while. That’s mostly because React doesn’t provide a complete front end system and is solely a JavaScript UI library. Angular, on the other hand, is a collection of libraries that work together to complete entire projects.

Plus, with the backing of Google and constant updates to keep up with modern requirements, Angular continues to deliver.

Can anyone learn Angular?

Angular is a cool, clean framework, but the learning curve is steep. At the most basic level, users should understand directives, modules, components, dependency injection and more. Of course, there are many more advanced topics to learn in order to properly make use of Angular.

With some knowledge of HTML, CSS and JavaScript, it’s possible to learn Angular and start building web, mobile and desktop applications with it.

Some of the major companies said to have Angular firmly in their tech stack:

  • FACEBOOK
  • AMERICAN EXPRESS
  • DELL
  • MARRIOTT
  • AMAZON
  • GOOGLE
  • NIKE
  • YOUTUBE

Our Yolkers have this covered

Angular is a solid tool from a business standpoint, offering cross-platform development, high quality apps, and high productivity and performance. Now, organisations don’t need to hire Angular experts in-house or learn the tech themselves. Instead, you can outsource to the Angular specialists at Double Yolk, who can become a part of your team to help you build and scale an app.