React or Angular: 7 Comparisons To Show Your Business Needs Both

Choosing the technology that best suits your business’ needs is not the easiest decision for an investor to make. Unfortunately, it is a choice that will have repercussions, positive or negative. Meaning that you must choose wisely! Even if it means consulting a ReactJS development company for their opinion.

So, when it comes down to figuring out which of these frameworks to use, a difficulty will arise. This is because both appear similar in function and nature. But knowing the areas where their use enhances a project is a must if you want to harness them completely. 

Start by getting to know the basics about each framework. 

React 

This is a JavaScript library that offers the ability to be ‘written once and run everywhere.’ React may have not been around for as long as Angular but it has amassed a huge following of developers. 

React shines when an application needs to be developed rapidly and with the option of being scalable. React is maintained and managed by Facebook. As of now, React is extremely popular. This ensures you won’t encounter issues when it is time to hire ReactJS developers.

Angular 

Unlike React, Angular is a full-fledged framework that has no requirement for external aids. It may be older than React but it has a range of uses. It is the framework of choice for enterprise-level applications, Single Page Applications (SPAs), and progressive web applications. 

Using Angular comes with the advantage of having built-in dependency injection and the ability to scale in the future. This technology is ideal when you require a complex web app or a SPA that does more than you need it to do. 

How Do React and Angular Fare Against Each Other?

In a practical world, how do React and Angular fare against each other? The only way to make this decision is by comparing them based on a few pointers. Performance, development time, code maintainability, and learning curve are a few important comparison points. 

Development Timeframe

Time is a valuable resource that you will not be willing to waste while carrying out software development for your business. 

Suppose you need your React JS developer to complete your project within a certain time frame. Which of the two frameworks would enable this to happen? Undoubtedly, it will be React that makes this a reality. 

Since React comes with minimal baggage, you will encounter few obstacles during the development stage. Due to this, your requirement for technical personnel is lower. This is great news and even a beginner-level programmer will not struggle to develop your application.

User Interface

Users like clean interfaces that are easy to navigate and fulfill their desired requirements. They will not stick around on an application or website that is cluttered and unappealing! The user interface is integral if your business heavily relies on an application or website for sales/leads. 

React is said to be extremely specialized, which is great if your project has just a few specific requirements. But, in some scenarios, this advantage can easily become a disadvantage. For anything more complex, Angular is the better of the two options. 

Testing

Testing makes sure your application will run smoothly. This process allows developers to quickly find and correct errors. Testing during development helps to maintain code and prevent any errors from escaping past the testing phase. 

Angular comes with built-in Dependency Injection (DI) which allows developers to pass dependencies of components. Also, this enables mocking of components. Advantages of DI include assistance in unit testing and easier extension of code. 

On the other hand, React executes tests continuously, meaning that errors are eliminated during the development process itself. It offers compatibility for various test software like Mocha, Ava, and Jest. 

Code Maintainability

Both React and Angular are based on the JavaScript framework meaning their code is maintained in a similar way. We will consider the code maintainability in terms of their use cases. 

Angular is mostly used to develop Single Page Applications (SPAs). These applications are complex and usually consist of several modules. Maintaining the code while still making sure the application does not lose richness could be tricky! However, Angular allows the writing of maintainable code by using HTML extension. 

The development of React components enables the rendering of uncontrollable user input. It also allows recognition through the unique naming system applied. React modules are reusable and make the code that much maintainable when used. 

Both offer relatively easy code maintainability, good news as it allows easy application expansion for the future.   

Website Type

The type of website you will be hoping to develop will also influence your framework choice. As a businessman, the type of business you run will definitely come with its own set of software requirements. These are conditions that the technology has to fulfill if not there is no point in wasting your money.

For simple yet large websites with variable data, React makes the better option. That is if you also want development to be rapid because you have a strict timeline. 

Alternatively, if your project is complex and requires a highly interactive web application, you should choose Angular. Taking your time with Angular will be rewarding if you really want your website/application to perform well.   

Performance- Effect of Document Object Model (DOM)

React gains a slight advantage over Angular when it comes to the performance of its applications. It uses a Virtual Document Object Model (DOM) while Angular utilizes the regular DOM variant. The virtual DOM is lightweight and doesn’t make the browser reload many times. 

Additionally, React uses the unidirectional data-binding approach also known as one-way data flow. In this technique, data can only transfer to the rest of the application in only one direction. 

In the case of Angular, bi-directional data binding is the data flow concept. Here data transfer occurs in two directions, to its destination and back. This affects the performance of the application and reduces the code’s credibility since data can be altered at either end. 

There are several benefits of adopting unidirectional data flow, these are: 

• fewer errors 
• no requirement of a watcher
• more efficient since the library knows the boundaries of the code. 

Learning Curve

Do React and Angular have a similar learning curve? Sadly, they both settle on opposite ends of the learning curve! One is relatively easy to learn while the other is not so learner-friendly! But, you must be thinking how exactly does this affect you? 

Well, the higher the learning curve, the harder it is to find an experienced developer. In effect, expect the services to have a higher price as well.  

Angular is complex and contains a lot of learning before a developer can master the framework. But, what do you expect from a framework capable of making complex web applications! 

React’s learning curve is not that steep. Developers acknowledge that it is much easier to learn and thereby climbs ahead of Angular in terms of learnability.    

Conclusion

React and Angular have different uses and picking one over the other only applies when you have specific requirements. Otherwise, each technology comes with its own set of positives. When your project warrants it, choose an Angular expert for Angular and a React developer for React requirements.  

Still despite stating and comparing these two technologies there is no clear winner! If anything, you will find that your business actually needs both of them.