A Closer Look:
Benefits of using React and Angular

Starting behind the scenes, both Angular and React are part of a group known as “JavaScript Frameworks”. Using these frameworks, developers can efficiently develop interactive and professional looking web applications.

JavaScript is a client-side programming language which simplifies the whole process of developing large-scale web applications. JavaScript is extensively used by the web developers to create add interactive features to their applications. Most of the internet browsers support JavaScript, which allows dynamic content to get displayed beautifully on web pages across various devices, browsers, and operating systems. 

Supported Solutions

Both frameworks have great backing. 

React is backed by Facebook, and has a short learning curve, resulting in faster application builds and quicker market response for changes. Although there is less enforcement of clean code, so staff changes and scalability can become issues.

React is minimalistic - a component library maintained by Facebook, but  you will be using a number of third party dependencies, like Redux, in order to build a full-fledged web application.

Angular is backed by Google and is actually TypeScript based, which makes the learning curve steeper, but results in a more robust end product that is ultimately more scalable and easier to maintain. 

With Angular, you have everything you need to build enterprise-grade software and all maintained and updated every 6 months by Google.

The good news is that neither is going away and the level of support afforded to each will continue to keep up with the ever changing development landscape.

What’s the Difference?

In an excellent article describing the two in detail, FreeCode Camp made these points: 

React

React takes quite some time to learn how to set up a project because there is no predefined project structure. You also need to learn the Redux library, which is used in more than half of React applications for state management. Constant framework updates also require additional effort from the developer and there are quite a lot of best practices in React, which you will need to learn to do things right.

Angular

Angular itself is a huge library, and learning all the concepts associated with it will take much more time than in the case of React. Angular is more complex to understand, and component management is intricate. Some complicated features are embedded into the framework core, which means that the developer cannot avoid learning and using them. Moreover, there are a lot of ways of solving a single issue.

Although TypeScript closely resembles JavaScript, it also takes some time to learn. Since the framework is constantly updated, the developer needs to put some extra learning effort.

What do you Need?

The key is to measure each language according to the task at hand, the budgetary and time constraints, and the future needs of the applications beyond the initial launch. In other words, it’s really all about the solution, not the tools. 

The first point is that both offer Single Page Application.  These pages are fast, responsive and avoid the need to reload. They present a seamless user experience, reduce required bandwidth and make adding new features easier. And they look great – professional, elegant and end-user friendly.

Some programmers can be passionate about one or the other, but the key is to develop a solution that works for each client and their users. That’s where having options really makes the difference in the Solutions Provider you choose. You need a firm that can pick and choose the right solution for your needs, and the expertise to make it happen.

WRIS developer, Josh Gonzales, has worked with both languages for WRIS clients and says he “doesn’t want to be in a world without JavaScript.” His preference is for the stability and scalability of Angular, but notes that with proper documentation of the build, React can be the solution for some customers.