Exploring Angular as a React Developer

Having worked with React.js for many years, I was well-versed in its ecosystem, comfortable with its intricacies, and accustomed to finding solutions to various challenges that React development can present. However, fueled by curiosity, I embarked on a journey to explore Angular. What I discovered was a mix of pleasant surprises and a few moments of awe.

Disclaimer, I am still not an expert at Angular and its ecosystem, but I believe I have grasped plenty of enough knowledge to share it with you. Also, we're comparing Angular which is a full-fledged framework with React which is a barebone library that comes with a handy and solid base model for developing web apps. More on that later. Let's dig into my gotchas together.

Angular - A Feature-Rich Offering

Angular boasts an array of features and tools that left a lasting impression:

1. The TypeScript Advantage

Angular's default use of TypeScript was one of the first aspects that stood out. While React developers can certainly use TypeScript too, Angular's deep integration with it creates a seamless development experience and promotes it as the default language of development. It brings a strong sense of type safety to the table, making code easier to understand and maintain.

2. Routing System

Angular's built-in routing system simplifies navigation within the application. React often relies on third-party libraries for this functionality.

3. Auth Guards

Authentication is a fundamental concern for most web applications. Angular's built-in Auth Guards offer an elegant solution for protecting routes, ensuring only authorized users gain access or whatever your solution is like role-based guards.

4. CLI for Speed

Angular's Command Line Interface (CLI) accelerates development with its powerful set of commands. It streamlines the creation of components, services, modules, and more, making your life as a developer markedly easier.

5. Minimized Re-renders

The way that Angular builds web apps is different from React. Angular has a noticeable advantage when it comes to preventing unnecessary re-renders, offering a more optimized rendering mechanism compared to React, and relies on the Virtual DOM version to compare with the real browser DOM which is known as an expensive calculation (especially if you have a complex DOM tree and a top node in it was updated).

6. Form Management and Validators

Angular simplifies form handling with its robust form management and validation capabilities, eliminating the need for additional libraries in most cases.

7. HTTP Client

Angular provides a versatile HTTP Client Service that streamlines HTTP requests and allows for request interception, making it an invaluable asset for managing data interactions.

8. Comprehensive Testing Support

Angular's testing tools and frameworks facilitate unit, integration, and end-to-end testing, promoting robust testing practices.

9. Built-in Services

Angular offers built-in services that support global state management, akin to React-Redux. These services provide a cohesive approach to managing application data.

10. Signals and RxJS

Angular leverages Signals and RxJS, a powerful library for handling asynchronous operations. These tools enhance Angular's ability to manage events and data flows.

A Closer Look from a React Developer's Perspective

While my journey into Angular was undoubtedly enlightening, there were a few aspects of React that I continued to appreciate more:

1. Project Structure

There's no specific/strict structure in React, you have the freedom from the beginning to leverage the structure you think fits the best for you. In most cases, React's project structure feels cleaner to me. Angular's default approach of placing styles, services, and tests alongside the component file can lead to a cluttered workspace. Additionally, the need to manually update the app.module for every module, component, or service used can be disorienting.

2. Intuitive Structure

React's JSX, the use of hooks within component files, and the straightforward handling of props resonate with me as more intuitive when reading or building components.

3. Vast Community

While the Angular community is not small, the React community is undeniably larger. This results in a broader array of third-party solutions and styling options, providing flexibility and creativity in development.

4. Error Messages

While Angular's error messages may have felt perplexing initially (likely due to my status as an Angular beginner), React's broader community often means that solutions to errors are more readily available. In Angular, specific solutions may depend on the version you're using, which can complicate the debugging process. I still believe that the more you gain experience in Angular, the more you'll get familiar with the issues you face. Also, the stack trace of errors became clearer in Angular recently.

Final Thoughts

My journey into Angular as a React developer was a rewarding experience filled with valuable insights. While Angular offers a wealth of built-in features and a more structured approach, React's simplicity and vast community still hold a special place. The choice between the two ultimately depends on the specific needs and preferences of the development team and the project at hand. While it is said that Angular fits more with enterprise web apps, I believe that it also fits small apps.

Here's how I think of both of them. I think that there's an intersected area between both of them, but I would pick any of them if my team experience is limited to one of them.

Other than that, I think that React would fit more in extensively dynamic web apps such as a chat app, social media timeline page, and analytics dashboard. Angular would fit more in if you want to focus on the business needs more than the technical part. It will provide you with a solid structure, validations, form validations, and HTTP client management, .. and will keep you away from the hustle of reactivity changes that is mainly a problem of novice and mid-level react developers.

I also believe that Angular fits with most of the ready-built React apps. Try Angular. Happy Coding ✌️