What is Angular?

Developing a front end application using Vanilla JavaScript can become tedious and unproductive as the size of the application grows because anything that needs to be in the template should be written by the developer. Angular is a JavaScript framework that is packed with powerful features such as routing, forms validation, animations and rich libraries. Let’s have a look at how it started and some of it’s features and what it can offer.

 

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List of Contents

• History
• Pros and Cons
• Features
• How it works
• Who uses it
• Conclusion
• References

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History

Angular was first introduced on October 20th, 2010. by Google (creator: Misko Hevery) as Angular.Js (ver 1.0) to provide an easily maintainable architecture when developing web applications. Then it was rewritten as Angular 2 to better support web browsers. After that, it has been using the same name with subsequent version numbers.

 

Among the many things such as mobile support and component system, the major difference between the two is that the first was using JavaScript to build the application while the latter uses TypeScript to do so.

 

Pros and Cons

Angular is component-based. a Component is like a small piece of block that you can create and add to the page whenever it is needed. So it is easily maintained and the repetitive task of having to write the same code over and over is unnecessary once you have a well-defined component. Moreover, as a component is self-functioning the unit test becomes easier than with vanilla JavaScript.

 

On the other hand, there are some of downsides as well. One of which is that since the framework is equipped with many features the size of the package is big. Secondly, having to manually configure the basic set up in the module file to add or delete components or other files can become cumbersome (though it has been improved over time with updates).

 

Having so many resources to learn combined complex configuration makes angular the hardest to learn among the most used frameworks (namely React, Angular, and Vue). But the bright side is that once you wrap your head around the concept and get used to it you will have quite a deal of resources at your disposal that will save you more time than you lost.

Pros	Cons
- Maintainability	- Big size
- Re-usability	- High learning curve
- Easy to test	- Complex configuration
- Readability

 

Features

Data binding (Two-way)

Data can automatically flow between the view and model without having to be pushed and pulled manually.

Dependency injection

In angular not only a class can be a provider but also can other values such as types and objects be a provider for others to use them as dependency without having to instantiate.

MVC architecture

Component acts as a controller between the template (frontend) and model (backend) making it possible for them to be developed at the same time.

How it works

Codes are written in TypeScript and HTML. Then a renderer (as of this writing Ivy renderer is the standard) compiles the code into JavaScript removing all the unnecessary parts of the code (tree shaking)

Who uses it

American Express, Dell, Marriott, Wal-Mart, Amazon, Google, YouTube, Nike, Virgin America, LucidChart, Samsung, and more.

Conclusion

Angular is a great tool that boosts productivity by providing various features such as data binding, dependency injection, and more to make building an application as effortless as possible.

 

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References

Angular official documents: https://angular.io/docs

Angular

 

​Angular versions history: https://www.clariontech.com/blog/angular-framework-from-its-first-steps-to-adulthood#:~:text=Angular%20Versions%20History&text=The%20first%20version%20of%20Angular,the%20release%20of%20Angular%202.

Angular Framework – From Its First Steps To Adulthood

 

​Angular major difference between Angular 1 vs 2 vs 4: https://medium.com/@angularminds/comparison-between-angular-1-vs-angular-2-vs-angular-4-62fe79c379e3

Major differences between Angular 1 vs Angular 2 vs Angular 4

 

Pros and cons: https://www.altexsoft.com/blog/engineering/the-good-and-the-bad-of-angular-development/

The Good and the Bad of Angular Development