What is Angular?

#Javascript #Framework #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

History

Angular was first introduced on October 20, 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 re-written 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 differences between the two is that the first was using JavaScript to build the application while the later 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 use whenever it is needed. So the repetitive task of having to write the same code over and over is unnecessary once you have a well defined component.

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

Features

- Data binding (Two-way)

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

- Dependency injection

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

- MVC architecture

Component acts as a controller between the template and model

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.

References

Angular official documents	https://angular.io/docs
​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 major difference between Angular 1 vs 2 vs 4	https://medium.com/@angularminds/comparison-between-angular-1-vs-angular-2-vs-angular-4-62fe79c379e3
Pros and cons	https://www.altexsoft.com/blog/engineering/the-good-and-the-bad-of-angular-development/