React or Angular for Frontend Development: When To Use What

According to the annual survey conducted by Stack Overflow, JavaScript retained its top spot as the most commonly used programming language, a whopping 10th year in a row. Given the popularity of JavaScript among developers, it is understandable that its frameworks and libraries have also garnered quite a fanbase among the developer community.

React and Angular are amongst the most popular Javascript frameworks, and for a good reason. These frameworks help developers with standard programming tasks by providing features, toolsets, reusable code components, APIs, a universal development environment, and more. It makes sense why developers prefer using these frameworks.

For many of us who are on the peripherals of the tech industry, parsing out the differences between frameworks such as React and Angular might be difficult. But understanding these differences becomes crucial if you are a business owner trying to decide which framework they should use to build their enterprise website or application.

Are you finding it difficult to decide between React and Angular?

Are you confused about which would be better for your business?

Don’t worry. In this post, we have broken down the differences between React and Angular on every relevant criterion that would impact your decision-making process. Hopefully, by the end of this post, you will know whether you should go ahead and hire an angular js developer or a react js expert would make for a better choice.

1. Scalability and Enterprise-Level Projects

To decide which framework has better scalability and would be the better choice for an enterprise-level project, we have to first dissect React and Angular’s features and architectural patterns. It would give a better insight into what an angular js development agency can do for you versus a firm with expertise in React js development.

Let’s first understand what React brings to the table regarding scalability.

Now that we have looked at React and what it offers, let’s explore the features of Angular that make it a scalable framework.

Which is more suitable for large-scale enterprise projects- React or Angular?

When it comes to building a large-scale enterprise project, the choice ultimately depends a lot on the project requirements, the skillset of the development team, and your enterprise’s existing systems and infrastructure. As we can see from the table above, both React and Angular support large-scale applications, even though the tools and features being used are different.

However, Angular does seem to have a slight edge over React, especially when building complex applications. Angular offers a comprehensive environment and means for building large-scale applications, where many relevant features come in-built. Features such as potent data binding, dependency injection, and full-featured templating language, among others, provide a sturdy toolkit for developing, testing, and deploying applications.

Angular enforces a more opinionated framework for big teams working on challenging projects and offers a uniform set of conventions and practices. Angular’s opinionated design and wide feature set could be more helpful if your project calls for complicated requirements, substantial state management, or large-scale application architecture.

2. Learning Curve and Developer Adoption

Learning Curve and developer adoption are two very important factors to consider if you want to decide which one is more suitable for your project.

The learning curve means the path of learning a particular framework or library. A steep learning curve means the framework is harder for new developers, whereas a shallow learning curve means a nice and quick learning process.

The steeper the learning curve is, the harder it is for new developers to adopt it readily. But how does a framework with a steeper learning curve impact your decision-making process as a business owner? Let’s find out.

●    Time and Cost

Developers often need more time to master the framework if the learning curve is higher. Project schedules may be impacted, and development costs may rise. A framework with a more gradual learning curve can be more appropriate if the project has stringent deadlines or financial restrictions.

●    Developer Productivity

Developer productivity may be impacted by the learning curve, particularly in the beginning phases of a project. Less experienced developers could take longer to get up to speed and start producing. Hence, it is important to consider your development team’s knowledge and skills. Choosing a framework comparable to one they are currently competent in will help sustain greater production levels.

●    Availability of Skilled Resources

It could be harder to get hold of qualified developers adept in a framework if it has a higher learning curve. This might affect the hiring process and could reduce the pool of resources that are accessible. Before choosing a framework, consider the general availability of qualified resources.

●    Long-term Maintenance and Support

Think about how the learning curve will affect maintenance and support in the long run. To maintain and improve the project over time, developers may need more training and assistance if a framework is more complicated and has a steeper learning curve. Hence, make sure to get answers to the following questions before choosing a framework for your project-

• Is the documentation of the framework available?
• Is the community support robust?
• Are there training resources available?

●    Project Complexity

The project’s complexity must also be taken into account. It might be the case that a framework with a higher learning curve could offer the skills and tools needed in a project that has complicated architectural demands or advanced feature requirements. In such circumstances, investing in learning and mastering the framework makes total sense because it would benefit the project.

There are no clear right and wrong answers for this one. Even though having a shallow learning curve is generally preferable, it is by no means something you should unthinkingly abide by. After taking the project requirements, your team’s skill sets, and other factors into account, you must decide whether a framework is right for you.

Which has better developer adoption- React or Angular?

AngularJS may have a steeper learning curve than React, particularly for new developers. React does seem to have a smaller learning curve compared to Angular js. However, React does require developers to learn concepts like JSX syntax, the Virtual DOM, components, etc.

Even though React seems the better choice according to this criteria, keep in mind that the learning curve is ultimately a subjective concept, as every developer has a different technical background and expertise, predisposing them to learn some frameworks faster than others. Hence, whether you should hire dedicated react js developer teams or angular js experts will depend a lot more on your business’s existing ecosystems and in-house talent than the learning curves of the respective frameworks.

3. Developer Productivity

Developer productivity means quickly developing a project using a particular framework. The time developers take to create a solution depends on the resources available to them, making their jobs easy.

With React, developers get to use reusable components. These components are separated, so changes made in one component do not impact another. As a result, developers can save considerable time, as they can reuse components instead of building every component from scratch. Similarly, React’s one-directional data-binding approach also ensures that child entities have no impact on the parent entities. As a result, you get a more steady code base.

On the other hand, Angular provides a structured and opinionated approach that enforces set conventions, patterns, and practices. These function as guardrails that keep developers on the right track. Developers get clear-cut guidelines that alleviate their decision fatigue. As a result, they can perform better. This is particularly true for large-scale complex projects handled by a huge team.

Hence, from a productivity standpoint, React and Angular do a pretty good job helping developers. So if you want to choose between the two, you must consider other factors, such as your team’s experience and expertise and your existing organizational ecosystems.

4. Performance

Like productivity, performance is another criterion where React and Angular are evenly matched. Angular manages dependency in a way that gets diverted to external resources. As a result, you get robust performance.

React, on the other hand, provides an edge regarding overall site load times. It is understandable, given that React uses a virtual DOM to load particular webpage components. In contrast, Angular directly controls the DOM, which is a resource-intensive process. Thus, performance does get impacted on an angular application or site, especially if a page has to update several views simultaneously, like the images and video galleries on social networking sites.

You should not consider performance as your primary criteria for deciding which is better for your project- React or Angular. Architecture design has more of a role when building a high-performance app or website.

5. Preference of Major Players

Again, React and Angular are being used by some of the major players within the tech industry right now.

For instance, React is being used by Facebook, Instagram, Airbnb, and others. Similarly, Angular has big-name takers such as Google, Microsoft, and IBM. Hence, instead of looking at how popular a particular framework is, you should consider your specific project requirements, existing resources, and the current skill level of your team.

React or Angular: When to Use What

Based on the above, the following are our recommendations around when you should be hiring a Reactjs web development company and when you should be using angularjs consulting on your project.

Use React When

• You are trying to create your own stack;
• Your team prefers the streamlined JSX and likes to work with uncomplicated computable properties;
• Your views are majorly visuals, for which you would require DOM manipulation;
• You value flexibility and innovation;
• You want to milk the benefits of the immutable state of pure functions using React and the Redux library. The immutability of pure functions helps erase the spillover effects by design. It can benefit you immensely while the testing and debugging process of complicated DOM trees.

Use Angular When

• You prefer pre-built stacks;
• You want a potent dependency injection that can easily segregate components to mock and test;
• You want to utilize RxJS;
• You prefer a consistent, responsive, and stable release cycle;
• You want to hire remotely and do not want to go through the headache of parsing out resources that might be on a different page from you regarding coding practices. Best practices are well understood among Angular developers, making hiring talent easy. 

Conclusion

React, and Angular frameworks are excellent for creating cutting-edge mobile and online applications and websites with component-based structures. Your choice, ultimately, would get boiled down to your preferred programming environment and what best suits your project needs.

So think carefully about your project requirements before investing in react js development services or hiring an angular expert. If you are still confused about which framework would better suit your project, get customized suggestions from our consulting team by contacting us. We will be happy to help you.