Among the major challenges for developers is the need to create the same program/ app for both web and native mobile applications yet having to keep separate project files for each one of them. Wouldn’t it be convenient, to keep the shareable resources between the different projects in one place, while only keeping separate the codes that are specific to each platform? Well, that’s exactly what the Angular framework does for you.
Introducing the Angular Framework
Angular is the darling for the developers. It is a Google-backed open-source JavaScript front-end framework for developing modern dynamic web applications. Ever since its introduction in 2009, it has grown to be one of the most preferred platform due to its ability to eliminate unnecessary code, making it easy to produce apps that are faster and lighter.
The platform had rapidly grown from the AngularJS in 2009 to the latest Angular 7 in 2018. According to the Stack Overflow Survey1, the framework was being used by more than 44.3% of web developers for creating user interfaces in 2017.
Popular Use Cases of the Angular Framework
The Angular framework creates great applications with the greatest user experience for the following use cases.
- Weather Apps
Weather Apps require a relatively easy and intuitive interface while at the same time maintaining a good performance. The Angular ramework can be used to develop such applications. The best example is www.weather.com - User-Review Applications
A common trend among customers today is that they desire and seek out detailed information regarding whatever they are interested in before committing to taking action. This is desirable because it encourages wise decision making and prevents the wastage of resources on unnecessary purchases. Moreover, this is where the Angular framework is useful. It facilitates the creation of apps with user review capabilities to make this possible. GoodFilms is a great example of such a website. It is a site where users go to read and write reviews of the movies they like. - eCommerce and mCommerce
Among the greatest commerce marketplaces have been created on the Angular platform. Some of the most reputable sites that boast of an Angular basis include Forbes, LiveJournal, Diply and Intel. According to LibScore, Angular is powering well over 12,000 websites that are included among the top 1 million sites in the world. - Travel Apps
Travel applications, with all their dynamic features, require a versatile framework for creation and design. Fortunately, Angular fills this role pretty well. The www.JetBlue.com web application clearly shows Angular’s power is this category. - Video Streaming Apps
For those who love video streaming services (and they are quite a number), Angular framework is the perfect solution for designing such websites with heavy video streaming needs. That’s why Netflix, YouTube are such popular websites for the movie and video mavericks. - User Generated Content Portals
Those websites that handle a lot of user generated content would do well to have this reliable platform as their basis. This makes them capable of handling millions of traffic, chats and posts per day. The best example of such websites with tons of user generated content are www.upwork.com and www.freelancer.com. - Social Apps
Mobile social apps such as LinkedIn were built entirely on this framework.
Reasons for Angular Success
Right from the word go, the Angular team set out to achieve simplicity and a restructuring of the JavaScript code. Google backed team sought to build a framework that would work across different platforms while at the same time remaining light on resources and faster in speed. The result has been the smashing success of the Angular project, with each update that is released adding onto the already attractive features of the framework.
The latest industry report on the performance of the Angular framework against React, its main competitor shows that although it is gaining ground, the Angular framework still maintains the lead with a total market share of 59% as of February 2019.
But what is it exactly that gives this framework an edge over its competitors? Here are 8 reasons why Angular is the framework of choice for JavaScript developers.
It has better User Experience
The latest version of Angular (version 7) comes equipped with numerous components of Material Design that are optimized and intended to mesh effortlessly with Angular. The components are super-fast and reliable, having the capacity to deliver to the users an experience like they have never seen before across both the desktop and mobile web browsers. The components are also entirely compatible with the server-side rendering.
Moreover, if the Material Design for the Angular framework is purely for rewarding the UI-UX developers, the opportunity is still offered for businesses to provide their customers with an experience that is aesthetically pleasing.
Angular has simple declarative User Interface
The application user interface is defined by the use of the hypertext mark-up language (HTML). The language is very intuitive, simple and declarative developing language. In comparison with a similar code written in JavaScript, the HTML code will be pretty easier to comprehend and reorganize as well.
The benefit here is that several developers not only get to work on the same project in collaboration but also avoid the worry that they will mess with other developers’ user interfaces.
Performance and Speed
With the Angular framework, applications load fast. The framework makes use of amazing features such as Server-side rendering, Web Workers and Code Splitting. The Web Workers make it possible for users having the offline capacity to receive service utilizing a cache while the Code Splitter is responsible for splitting the code by using a Component Router. This makes it possible for the users only to load the code needed to render the requested view. The bounce rates and app abandonment incidences are significantly reduced with Angular because it focuses on enhancing the app’s responsiveness to the users’ actions, thereby guaranteeing that the app stays longer in the users’ devices.
Angular is SEO-Friendly
If you are wondering whether your SEO challenges with your website or app will be handled once you go the Angular way, then rest assured. The Angular framework makes all your SEO problems go away by using server-side rendering, also referred to as Angular Universal. With server-side rendering made possible by the Angular framework, the very first view of your app will be served in plain CSS and HTML. This means that the search engine will render and crawl your content, apart from enabling all the social media platforms to correctly show an image preview of your Angular app in an efficient and flexible manner.
Developers get to enjoy Faster App Development
Another reason to take up Angular coding is its ability to reduce the problems that developers face. This makes it possible to write less code and also make use of the same code again and again, as often as they want. Additionally, the coder has the perfect opportunity to test the code while writing in a parallel setup that allows him the use and reuse of others’ codes without unnecessarily worrying issues of integration. The framework fastens the process of app development, hence reducing the time needed to prepare an app and load it on the App Store. All you need to do is a simple addition of attributes to the HTML code, and you will have an app built with Angular in no time at all.
Apps can be maintained easily
When compared to the other front-end frameworks, applications that are designed and developed by Angular are comparatively easier to maintain. The advantage arises out of the necessity to include the principles of object-oriented design into the application through the adoption of a model as the source, thus rendering the application easy to maintain. In case you would like to adjust your program in the future, you will be able to accomplish this without necessarily having to rewrite the entire program.
Ability to optimize security for responsive web apps
Ever since the advent of new technology, security has been a concern for a majority of those looking to take up new web applications to replace the outdated ones. Luckily, security challenges are not familiar with Angular framework development. For communication with servers, Angular apps usually make use of the HTTPS interface. The interface can either be in the form of a single web service or a RESTful API. Moreover, for those servers that can allow, the $http Angular protection module is available for guarding against scripting attacks across sites. An additional benefit is the adoption of the strict expression evaluation for minimizing client-side security concerns.
Ability to Leverage Existing Data
There’s an additional benefit associated with choosing the Angular framework for app development. The framework does not limit you from taking advantage of the already existing data management system. When facilitated through RESTful API, Angular applications will give an allowance for users to gain access to the underlying database. The implication here is that you can effortlessly swap the frontend code already in existence while maintaining all the internal APIs in their appropriate positions. Moreover, in case the app you are replacing was designed on such frameworks as Django or Rails, switching will be as simple and straightforward as a walk in the park.
The New Version, Angular 7
The newest update to the Angular framework, Angular 7, was released on 18th October 2018. The version features some fantastic features that are sure to make it even much more popular in the web app development industry. The primary focus of the version was to create a runtime code and compiler that is smaller but faster and better.
Features that make the newest version stand out
- Application performance enhancement: Version 7 of the Angular framework is much faster than the previous versions. Not only does it upgrade quickly, but its performance has also received a boost from the previous version.
- Drag and drop: The drag and drop ability makes it possible to just drag and drop interfaces. The automatic sorting, previews and custom drag handles make working with the latest version of Angular very enjoyable.
- CLI prompts: The CLI commands are crucial in helping users navigate around the interface. When typing in commands, the prompts are activated to enable users to discover inbuilt support and much more.
- Angular material and component development kit (CDK): The Material Design has received visual updates and enhancements. The refresh ability, dynamic loading as well as the ability to handle large data lists are some of the new features and improvements in the Angular CDK.
- Virtual scrolling: The version has a scrolling module added to allow for virtual scrolling
The Future of Angular, the Angular
Angular is built and maintained by Google. And they have made a lifetime commitment through its Long-Term Support (LTS) . As far as any developer is concerned, this offers a guarantee for its technological advancement.
Google is a company that takes innovation and creativity seriously. Moreover, this has been seen in the constant release of updates to the Angular framework in a bid to make it the best and most dynamic front-end web app framework. In its lifespan of 10 years since the launch in 2009, the Angular framework has been updated severally. The current version, v7 has been released with the latest features that make it indeed the best and most versatile framework. These updates serve to assure every web developer that the future of the Angular framework can only be bright.
Conclusion
Improved performance, type safety, ease of maintenance and optimization for SEO, among numerous other advantages, are the reasons why the Angular framework is so popular. Moreover, given the commitment by Google not to introduce any more drastic changes, together with their commitment to support, means that the framework is here to stay. So, if you were still sitting on the fence to see how this goes, now would be the perfect time to join the bandwagon. The Angular framework has positioned itself as the framework for future web applications. Anyone who ignores it does so at their peril. It would be to the advantage of app and program developers to embrace this excellent product to enjoy its numerous benefits. Does your brand need a web app?
