Angular Vs. Angular JS For App Development: Which One Is For You?

Angular and AngularJS are the most common front-end web development frameworks among the leading JavaScript frameworks. Which framework is the best is always counted among the hottest topics of discussion. Whether you are a software engineer looking to branch out into a web development domain or an entrepreneur looking to expand its footprints, the Angular vs AngularJS debate must be of interest. Without much ado, let us discuss.

What is Angular? 

Angular is an open-source web application framework and it was developed by Google. It was released in the year 2016 and it was based on TypeScript. Angular JS is the original web framework released by Google in the year 2010 and known as Angular 1. x and was based on Javascript. This version 2 was rewritten by the Google team. 

However, the team decided to maintain both as separate frameworks. Angular 1. x became AngularJS, while Angular 2 and other versions afterward are known simply as Angular. The latest version of Angular has evolved into an intuitive framework, for building both intuitive web applications and cross-platform development. It has introduced a plethora of modern features with innovative functionalities. 

Main Features of Angular

• Angular Command Line Interface(CLI)
• TypeScript
• Cross-platform development 
• Rich template syntax
• Component-based architecture 

What is AngularJS? 

As mentioned earlier, AngularJS is the legacy version. It was developed on the idea of declarative programming and model-view-controller (MVC) architecture. AngularJS is in long-term support and the team stopped providing support on December 31, 2021. However, all the applications built on AngularJS will continue to work. 

Some developers still find the framework worth using because of the interesting feature that differentiates it from its modern versions. 

Main Features of AngularJS

• Model, view, and controller (MVC)
• Two-way data binding 
• Plain old JavaScript objects (POJO)
• Testability 
• Directives 

Angular vs AngularJS: Key Differences 

Angular 2 was a paradigm shift from AngularJS as the basic architecture and approach to data binding was changed. Still, both frameworks continue to be used by programmers and web developers based on their requirements. Let’s have a look at the Angular vs AngularJS difference. 

Architecture

AngularJS supports the MVC architecture. You need to add the business logic in the model, the desired output in the controller, and Angular does all the processing to derive that output. AngularJS automatically generate the model pipelines. 

It uses the components that are directives with the templates. In Angular, there are two types of directives: structural and attributive directives. 

Language

AngularJS uses JavaScript, but Angular 2 and the later versions use TypeScript. TypeScript is the superset of JavaScript and it offers static typing during the process. 

Dependency Injection (DI) 

Both AngularJS and Angular use dependency injection but the way they do are completely different. In Angular JS, FI is injected into different link functions, controller functions, and directive definitions. On the other hand, Angular gears a categorized dependency injection system using affirmations, constructor functions, and providers. 

Angular CLI

Angular ships with its command-line interface (CLI). It is used for generating components, services, etc., and even completing projects quickly and efficiently. You can easily produce different versions of the same project for different platforms with vibrant type checking, linting, etc. However, AngularJS does not have a CLI of its own. 

Performance and Speed 

In Angular JS, its two-way binding feature diminishes the time and efforts of development. Angular has been upgraded to a better structure that arrives with improved speed and performance. 

Mobile Support

AngularJS doesn’t provide mobile development support but Angular does. This renders AngularJS a bit primitive in this age of the mobile phone. 

Expression syntax 

When it comes to data binding, Angular is more innate than AngularJS. A developer using AngularJS must remember the correct ng directive for binding a property or an event. For Angular, the language uses () for event binding and [] for property binding. 

Pros and Cons of AngularJS and Angular 

PROS of AngularJS 

• Small codebase 

• Built keeping in mind unit testing and it receives frequent testing updates

• JavaScript has a wider spread than TypeScript. Almost every developer has recognized JavaScript and HTML since they initiated learning to code. 

CONS of AngularJS 

• AngularJS was created for designers. It is not as developer-friendly as Angular. 

• Not possible to create SEO-optimized web applications without backend HTML rendering. 

• Problem with scale. Application performance becomes less sustainable as the codebase enhances and becomes more complicated. 

Pros of Angular 

• Mobile application development. It can be used to improve any type of app function. 

• Angular uses better-performing data binding algorithm 

• The components are independent and reusable 

• TypeScript’s static typing helps in writing cleaner code

• It mechanically converts HTML and TypeScript into JavaScript. This is called Ahead-of-Time (AOT) assembling. The main advantage here is rapid browser rendering. 

Cons of Angular 

• TypeScript is less popular and more challenging to learn. 

• The applications in Angular are sometimes unnecessarily complex. They may be an inefficient solution if building small applications. 

The Bottom Line 

Angular or AngularJS- which is better is one of the most common question. Angular is one of the best choices for programming solutions that are complicated. When you need to develop a web store, small messaging app, news app, or an eCommerce store, Angular is the best option, as it will serve you the best with front-end development tasks. 

An Angular website can easily handle heavy loads and demonstrate the expected performance in less time. In addition, it proves to be the perfect solution for PWA and SPA development. Angular also makes the app development process more manageable and will assist you in fueling up your business with a customer-oriented and easy-to-use app.