Some questions are difficult to answer, yet be answered they must. What is the difference between Angular and Angular JS is one of those questions. The short answer is – Angular JS is an open source framework for front-end web development first launched in 2009. Subsequent updates that came out were called Angular, dropping the JS at the end of its original name. So to be clear, Angular is essentially an upgraded version of Angular JS.
However, that doesn’t underwrite the fact that there is significant difference between Angular and Angular JS. Over the years, several technological updates have made Angular much different from the Angular JS that was first launched.
How these differences affect your web development and what you should choose depends on various aspects that we shall discuss in this blogpost. For a quick primer, here are some of the basic differences between Angular and Angular JS:
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Angular JS
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Angular |
| 1. Works on MVC (Model View Controller)
2. Uses JavaScript 3. No Dependency Injection used 4. Doesn’t support mobile 5. Works without NPM 6. Easy to setup 7. With Two-way data binding effort and time is reduced 8. Slower than Angular ’s new versions 9. No support or new updates anymore
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1. Works on components and directives
2. Uses TypeScript 3. Uses Dependency Injection 4. Supports mobile 5. Needs NPM 6. Complicated setup (requires 3rdparty library) 7. Simplified structure makes development and maintenance of large applications easier 8. Faster than Angular JS with the upgraded features. 9. Active support and frequent new updates
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What Is Angular JS
Angular JS is an open source JavaScript framework used to build front end client applications. Developed by Google, Angular JS is free to use and an excellent option for single page applications. It works well for both small and large applications and has enjoyed a good deal of love from the developer community long after it first came out over a decade ago. It was built on the idea of model view controller (MVC) architecture and declarative programming.
Features like dependency injection and dynamic binding help Angular JS eliminate the need to write extensive code. What makes it exceptional is its quality of changing static html to dynamic html.
What is Angular?
Angular is a well-known and popular open-source Typescript framework that was born in 2016 when the engineers of Angular JS realised that they needed a more modern framework to perform better in the changing technology landscape. They hence decided to completely rebuild the older Angular JS. They rewrote the entire framework, this time in Typescript instead of JavaScript, and decided to call it Angular, dropping the JS. This upgrade began to be known as Angular 2.
Over the years, Angular has consistently been updated and new versions have been rolled out. The latest version at the time of writing this stands at Angular 14, released in June 2022.
So in simple terms, Angular JS is the legacy version and Angular is the modern version.
Why do we need Angular?
Web applications were being made with JavaScript since long before Angular. Why then do we need Angular and not just build web applications plain old JavaScript?
As applications become more and more complex today, JavaScript becomes difficult to maintain. In order to properly structure an application that handles modern day traffic and interactive features, an advanced framework is needed – one that can impart a clean and loosely coupled structure that is easy to maintain. Moreover, modem frameworks like Angular also provide a lot of utility by bringing in reusable utility code that can be used is various applications.
Angular is a lot more manageable and testable than vanilla JavaScript. It’s faster, easier, and more fun to work with. Therefore, using Angular instead of JavaScript is not necessary, but it does make a developer’s life so much easier than JavaScript.
Key differences between Angular and Angular JS
Architecture
Angular’s architecture is called the component based architecture, named that way because it depends on the Inter-functionality of components. Components are directives with templates. Angular has two types of directives –
Structural directives – they alter the layout of the DOM by replacing its elements
Attributive directives – they change how the DOM appears and behaves
Angular JS is based on the MVC architecture which separates the application logic from the user interface layer and hence addressed different concerns separately. The Model manages the application data. It responds to the requests from View and commands from controller.
The View displays the data to the users. The controller manages the requests between Model and View. The MVC is a very old architecture for building web applications.
Use of directives for data binding between Angular vs Angular JS
Directives are used by both Angular and Angular JS. The difference lies in the way that they are used.
Angular uses standard directives with only the model for data binding. You use symbols to demarcate the difference, by using
“[],” for one way binding
“[()]” for two way binding
“[]” for property binding
“()” for event binding
Angular JS uses a pack of directives. You need to be careful while using directives in this case, as you will use the ng-model to create two-way data binding and ng-bind for one-way data binding.
Main advantages of Angular over Angular JS
Angular is undoubtedly the newer, modern app development framework and hence offers several features worth watching out for.
CLI
Angular offers a command line interface or CLI which makes installing and configuring all the required software and dependencies, significantly reducing the time it takes to set up and get going. It lets you initialize, develop, scaffold, and maintain your apps right from the command shell. The real hero here is the boilerplate code you get, saving you time.
Dependency Injection
When an Angular service or component requires other dependent services to complete a certain task, Angular used the dependency injection to fulfil these tasks. This helps divide the task among different services, thereby speeding up the execution. The Angular injector creates service instances and injects them into classes like components and services. As a result, Angular apps are easier to test, maintain and use. There is minimal coupling between client and dependency classes and very little boilerplate code required.
Language choices
While Angular itself is written in Typescript, you have a few other languages choices you can use in Angular app development, including ES5, ES6, and Dart.
Modularity
Modularity is a straight, simple, and sophisticated process, that looks easy but isn’t – a little like Scandinavian home décor, or the minimalistic ‘no-makeup-makeup-look’. That level of visible simplicity is no joke to achieve.
Angular, however, does a good job of it. It uses basic types of modules like Routing module, routed module, domain module, service module, and widget module. It very effectively containerizes the code to keep different modules working efficiently with each other, making the client app load faster and run smoother.
Advantages of Angular JS over Angular
MVC
MVC is the classic architecture that still ensures swift performance and great usability. Even if new developers join the project or code needs to be maintained years after, the MVC architecture gives a clear idea of the application and its functionality, making it easy to understand and locate the code.
JavaScript
Being written in JavaScript sure makes Angular JS appeal to a larger number of developers who are more comfortable with JavaScript than anything else.
Two-way Data Binding
When Angular JS first launched, its Two-way data binding made a big impact on development projects. Thanks to two-way data binding, any change made to the view (user interface) will automatically update and synchronize with the Model (data) too.
While Angular’s one way data binding avoids a few dirty checks and call-backs along the way, making things faster, Angular JS is still the preferred option if you need strict data accuracy.
So choose Angular or Angular JS?
Despite coming from the same lineage, Angular and Angular JS have many differences and what you choose depends on the needs of your specific app development project. Surely, Angular was built specifically to make modern app development easier and more impactful. It therefore makes sense to say that Angular will help you build high-level client applications for the modern web and mobiles.
However, Angular JS still has its classic charm and a host of features that still make provide an edge to app development, be it in terms of accuracy or detail.
So choose what works best for you and do share your experiences with us. If you can’t make up your mind about what’s best for your project, get in touch with the best Angular developers at Moveoapps and they’ll help you figure out what’s the best technology fit for your app development goals.
