Tue Oct 23 2018

Angular vs Vue.js

Choosing a tech stack sometimes becomes a tedious task as you need to take every factor into consideration, including budget, time, app size, end-users, project objectives, and resources. There are so many options that we have today when it comes to frameworks and JavaScript libraries, choosing those you will use in your project may be a hard task. Whether you are a beginner, a developer, a freelancer, or a project architect forming strategies, it is a wise decision to be aware of the advantages and drawbacks of each framework in detail.

No doubt, JavaScript popularity has touched its peak after the arrival of Angular and all new Vue.js. A highly competitive war among these two JavaScript web app development tools is no more a big surprise these days. In fact, all web app development companies are debating across worldwide on selecting the best tool for their JavaScript web applications. The question is which one is better for web development?

Here, in this post, we will compare Angular vs Vue.js based on different parameters, similarities, and differences among them. It helps you gain the complete knowledge of both frameworks along with trends and insights. Then you will be able to select the best one depends on scopes and suitability of your project.

So, let's get started the comparison between Angular and Vue js.

Angular

Angular is one of the most famous frameworks out there, gaining a lot of momentum lately. Angular is an open source framework for building web application front-end and based on JavaScript. It is maintained by Google developers to address the challenges faced during the development of single page applications. Google launched its open-source client web framework called AngularJS in the year 2009. It was developed for Angular developers with the aim of solving problems in the creation of single-page applications.

Vue.js

Vue.js is a JavaScript library for building web interfaces. Combining with some other tools It also becomes a “framework”. Vue.js is one of the top JavaScript frameworks. Vue.js is newer than Angular. It was first released in 2013. Vue.js is a progressive framework or a library for building user interfaces. Unlike other monolithic frameworks, Vue is designed from the ground up to be incrementally adoptable. The core library is focused on the view layer only and is easy to pick up and integrate with other libraries or existing projects. It's also perfectly capable of powering sophisticated Single-Page Applications when used in combination with modern tooling and supporting libraries.

Differences Between Angular vs Vue JS

Angular JS provides a set of features to greatly reduce the amount of code and hence effort involved to make an application fully functional. It is also described as a Model-View-Controller (MVC) framework because its approach is modular toward building an application. On the other hand, with the help of Vue, web UI developments can be more approachable. It is easier for developers to pick up since it is less opinionated. The architecture of Vue is incrementally adoptable, this is one of the key strength of Vue.
Angular.js has a wide set of functions and an opinionated structure. This makes it more suitable for large-scale, dynamic and real-time applications such as instant messaging and chat apps. It’s highly appropriate for cross-platform mobile development and Enterprise applications. In contrast, If all you want is a lightweight and single-page web application, then Vue.js is the best choice. If speed and performance are what matter to you the most.
Angular is based on a well-formed structure made out of heavy codes. Vue.js is much lighter and more flexible. The reason for this is that Angular has a large set of enclosed features which can be put to good use by the developers.
Though Vue js is new according to Angular. But this is not its drawback, because it has now 84364 starts on Github and downloaded number of times in a few years; number rapidly increases.
Angular.js has been improving over the years through its updates in the form of Angular. Vue.js though, claims to build upon everything that its competitor lacks or misses out on.
Vue.js sheds a lot of weight by not having too many additional features in its main library. All features are supposed to be added through additional extensions which make it more modular than the Angular framework. On the other side, the well-built structure of Angular provides more scope for adding additional features to the application.
The lower size of Vue.js is perfect for implementation if an application doesn’t need a large set of functionalities.
Angular.js has a steeper learning curve, therefore, you need more development experience for your project.
Angular.js uses Microsoft TypeScript along with Vanilla Javascript, which requires a steeper learning curve.
Angular is older than Vue, so it has more resources and support. Where Vue.js is catching up. The increasing popularity of Vue.js has led to an increase in community support. The ever-increasing number of stars on Github is a testament to the same.
Angular uses TypeScript, a superset of JavaScript that is considered a separate programming language. TypeScript has a lot of significant advantages, such as autocompletion and navigation, as well as advanced refactoring possibilities. Those make TypeScript a primary choice for large-scale projects.
Vue.js works with a template-based syntax that is clear and valid HTML. Thus, any code created in Vue.js can be inserted into an HTML file without any conversions.
In size respect, Angular is the heaviest. On the other hand, Vue.js is the most lightweight.
Vue provides the easiest learning curve and it’s an ideal option for beginners.
Angular uses the regular DOM with the entire web page re-rendered even if only a single item is changed. That affects the performance, especially in single-page applications. And Vue js uses virtual DOM. It is a copy of the actual DOM where changes are made without affecting the DOM properly. The updated virtual DOM is compared to a snapshot of the regular DOM, and then only the modified components are re-rendered. This approach significantly speeds up the application performance.
Angular provides scalability with its modular development structure, while Vue js uses template-based syntax. In a large application, templates become increasingly more difficult to reuse, as compared to JavaScript components.
Vue.js is still far from being very popular among the developers, whereas Angular has a big advantage in respect of popularity.
Angular is quicker and easier to code. Its templates are the same as the traditional plain HTML and include extended HTML terminology, which means that even a beginner can straight away get his hands dirty with Angular.
Vue can be easily integrated with other projects and libraries. Its installation is fairly simple, even beginners can start building user interfaces from the word ‘go’. Vue makes the use of DOM (Document Object Model).
Angular.js should be the best choice for dynamic projects which make use of most of the framework’s features. Whereas Vue.js would be better for small-size projects and other applications which prefer faster speed over greater functionality.

You can get more information regarding both these frameworks from our other posts -

Both of these frameworks would provide a great structure for your application. But the choice ultimately depends upon all the factors you’ll consider while making the decision. If you want a framework that’s almost considered as the industry standard and is well-trusted. Then AngularJS web development is the way to go. However, if your application demands a single-page layout, and if you want it to be fast, light and clean. Then there could be no better choice than Vue.js web development.

Now that you’ve got a better point of view about Vue.js and Angular. Choose the one as your project prefer. You can share your experiences with us about these two frameworks. Thank you!

Author:Geekboots