We are moving towards a full-fledged digital world, where more and more websites and applications are developed each day. Have you ever wondered how are we able to make developments at this rate? The simple answer is frameworks. We have many frameworks that help us build robust applications. A few of them are Django, Angular, React, Laravel, and CodeIgniter. The list goes on and on. If you thought choosing one framework and using it for your project was easy, we are sorry to break it to you, but this is not the case. First, you need to understand your project needs and decide among the resourceful platforms accordingly.
To get started, in this analysis, we will look at one framework we already mentioned, named Angular. Whether you are looking to build single-developer projects or enterprise-grade applications, you can count on Angular to fulfill your development needs. It allows you to build dynamic web applications, where users can interact with the content. Additionally, you can build progressive web applications, which can enhance user experiences greatly. With that said, now it’s time to delve into the advantages and disadvantages Angular brings.
Advantages of Angular
You can find the ‘ahead-of-time’ compiler in Angular that boosts the load time as well improves the security of your applications. It achieves this by compiling HTML and TypeScript into JavaScript for browsers to load your application faster. Here are other benefits of Angular:
1. Google support
Angular was developed in the year 2010 by the corporate giant, Google. The company has offered its Long-Term Support (LTS) to this framework. Thus, hands down, Google has got Angular’s back. This obviously comes with quite a lot of benefits. Firstly, you get excellent community support. Secondly, you have Google Web toolkits that simplify the development process. Lastly, you get recommendations on improvement from the core development team.
2. Rich user experience
From the user perspective, you can relate to how important a good User Interface (UI) is. Angular helps developers build attractive UI for businesses. Plus, it uses HTML (HyperText Markup Language), which is a less complex markup language compared to other viable options. Also, rapid prototyping in Angular allows you to reduce errors. This further sweetens the user experience.
3. Quick development
One of the reasons Angular is a popular framework among developers is because of the faster development process. You can easily find detailed documentation for Angular, which can help you both get started and solve the issues you will likely encounter on your way. Additionally, there is two-way data binding, which automates some code generation processes. That way, you can save time and develop projects quickly.
4. Code maintainability
The developers can add static type in Angular. This means static typing allows the developers to resolve the bugs quicker. That way, they won’t have to go through the code from the beginning to identify the error. Eventually, this makes the codebase more maintainable. The applications that are developed using Angular are also easy to maintain. This is because the components are loosely coupled and can be replaced with better implementations.
5. Cross-Platform capabilities
Angular offers cost-friendly and progressive web apps that can run across different mobile and desktop platforms. But Angular is also used in developing native mobile applications. Today, most web developers and companies try to produce apps that have cross-platform versatility. They do so because Angular is capable of making remarkable native-like apps. Also, with the aid of modules like TypeScript, Angular developers can create native-like UIs with features like services, routing, and inputs. NativeScript is another tool that helps Angular developers by providing them with native APIs. Due to this, Angular apps could run on both Android and iOS without any performance issues.
6. Stability and compatibility
In Angular, you will find reusable components and libraries that provide you with stability in development. Furthermore, the latest version of this framework ensures maximum backward compatibility. Therefore, it can work with the previous versions, which is great in migrating and transitioning to the latest version. Also, it is compatible with multiple back-end programming languages, ensuring the data is effectively loaded as and when required.
7. Robust programming
Today we have billions of applications but only a minor percentage of them are used frequently. Those are the robust ones, providing features such as efficient UX (User eXperience) and simplicity. Angular offers powerful built-in features that make development simpler. Additionally, it allows the integration of third-party tools and components, which further creates a collaborative ecosystem.
Disadvantages of Angular
With the advantages of Angular examined, it’s time to look at the other side of the story. We are, of course, talking about some notable drawbacks of Angular.
1. Steep learning curve
If you are a beginner, the steep learning curve of Angular might make you second guess your programming choice. It has its own set of rules you need to follow to make the most out of it. Plus, you should have knowledge of the TypeScript programming language ahead of time. However, this shouldn’t hold you back. Look at it as sharpening the saw before using it. Once you get hands-on experience with TypeScript, you can benefit from all the exciting features Angular has to offer. Plus, with TypeScript, you get static type checking, which reduces the occurrences of errors significantly.
2. Heavy framework
Angular is a heavyweight framework, making it suitable for complex projects. However, if you use it for simple projects, chances are, this framework can weigh you down. This disadvantage of Angular is being more highlighted in the developer community. After all, there are lightweight options available, making Angular less favorable.
3. Limited SEO (Search Engine Optimization) capabilities
Angular is used to create single-page web applications that come in handy. But the downside to this is that web crawlers cannot see the content of these websites. We already know how important it is for websites to be SEO-friendly to appear in search results. Server-side rendering can be an adequate solution. However, you will have to go the extra mile and learn about Angular Universal to make use of it.
4. Heavily reliant on JavaScript
As we have already seen, Angular is JavaScript centered. Hence, if one disables JavaScript access, the resultant webpage will be nothing but a complete blank. Although JavaScript is a great tool for web development, being reliant on JavaScript is not great. And since Angular can’t seem to offer any alternative, it became a drawback for the software.
5. Migration
The initial version of Angular, predictably dubbed 1.0, was released in 2010. Since then, multiple versions have been rolled out. As of the time of writing, January 2022, the latest version of Angular is 13, which was released on November 4, 2021. The problem with multiple versions is that it makes it challenging to develop enterprise-level applications. Even though most of the latest versions are backward compatible, some still aren’t. The situation gets more complicated for the beginners—by the time they learn one version, the next one is already out.