Angular is mainly used to create a front-end. With Angular, we create
We have experience in creating solutions and projects using Angular technology in such fields as:
ImpiCode managed the project well, adhering to the budget and taking scope changes in stride. The responsive and patient team provided actionable suggestions. Management and executives were communicative and readily available.
Angular can be used in many projects and applications
Developers economize the amount of code necessary for application development
Angular supports fast and easy testing.
Angular (like AngularJS) is a front-end web technology created by Google. Angular is an open framework based on the JavaScript programming language and enables the creation of complex applications (Single Page Applications) that run on the browser instead of the server. Besides this, Angular supports the creation of web applications in the MVC architecture (Model, View, Controller).
Angular is based on TypeScript, which extends JavaScript’s capabilities with static typing. This gives the developer greater control, code manageability, and also shortens the testing period, facilitating correctness checking. At the same time, the cost of implementing TypeScript is low because JavaScript code is already correct according to TypeScript. JavaScript is extremely popular these days. It is the de facto language of the Internet, upon which all front-end browsers are based. Concurrently, it is increasingly used on the server-side to also support back-end functionality (e. g. Node.js).
Angular is a very popular framework used by front-end web developers. Below are listed and described the most important reasons to know and use Angular in your projects.
Angular provides a template system used in the building process of specific components. Templates are equipped with control statements and data display methods. The usage of templates helps maintain the readability and clarity of the code.
Angular uses a data binding mechanism that binds the value of a variable to the place in the HTML code where the variable is used. Thanks to the synchronization of the template with the text field on the page, the content of the page is automatically updated when the code is changed. It is noteworthy that such synchronization can take place in either one or both directions.
Despite the disadvantages of compilation, it is often the only way to enhance with new options. Application mechanisms in Angular are written in TypeScript, a superset of the JavaScript language. TypeScript gives a developer new options including typing variables and using certain elements of ES6. Specifying variable types is very crucial from a developer's point of view because it keeps code under control. Developers can find errors in a faster and more effective way already at the compilation stage. For example, the compiler prevents a developer from assigning a string value to a numeric variable.
Ability to compact (the corollary of the compilation process) is another good reason to use Angular. As a result, the entire application is contained in several result files (JS and CSS), which significantly improves the page loading speed. In addition, the very process of navigating on such a website is quick and efficient.
A design pattern very often used in Angular is dependency injection, which supports removing direct dependencies between components for the plug-in architecture. It is very often used to add services responsible for exchanging data with an external API.
Angular very often uses RxJS (Reactive Extensions for JavaScript), which is a library containing tools for asynchronous and event-based programming. Programmers using the RxJS library can modify data, filter it, and map it.
Due to its specificity and having numerous advantages, Angular is used by many companies, including leading players in the technology market like Google, Microsoft, and Apple. Google not only uses this technology in its projects but also systematically works on it and develops it. Microsoft used Angular to build Microsoft Office Home and Xbox Live, and Apple used this technology on its product support site. Angular has also been used in the YouTube TV app, which is used to stream online programs. Another example of the usage is the creation of a website for the German automotive concern BMW, which facilitates the search for vehicle dealers and allows consumers to create their own vehicle configuration. The technology is also used by other companies such as AT&T, Adobe, Sears, and McDonald's.
Angular is a newer and improved version of AngularJS technology. Both frameworks were created by Google staff for the same purpose - developing single-page applications.
AngularJS was created in 2009 by iško Hevery and Adam Abrons. Initially, they wanted to use this technology for their own startup, but they quickly changed minds, and finally, AngularJS was released as an open framework by Google (both developers worked there).
In 2014, Google announced a decision about the development of Angular. Initially, this technology was supposed to be the second version of AngularJS, but during design work, a decision was made to create Angular as a separate and independent technology. The decision was based on the rejection of backward compatibility and the quick and easy creation of an AngularJS update path to the newer Angular. Work on Angular started in 2014 and lasted two years, during which several trial versions were created. The final version of this technology was released in 2016.
At the same time, Google promised to systematically develop this technology and release its newer and more efficient version every half year. Along with Angular, its compiler and router were developed. Angular 2 used router 3, and that’s why Angular 3 wasn’t released. Only a new version of the router was created and launched along with Angular 4. In June 2020, Angular 2020 was released.
The main goal of Angular's development was to extend the capabilities of traditional HTML to better operate dynamically changing content. Automatic synchronization between the model and the view was created and the DOM manipulations were separated from the application logic, thanks to which the code testing process was greatly facilitated. Additionally, the server layer was separated from the application user layer. The creators of technology wanted to show the entire path that must be followed during software development, starting with interface design and ending with testing.
Currently, more often the newer versions of Angular are used than the older AngularJS technology. Below is a list of the main differences between these technologies.
AngularJS is based on JavaScript language when applications and websites created with Angular are written in TypeScript. Both languages have pros and cons, for example, TypeScript uses ES6 and is backward compatible with ES5.
AngularJS uses controllers and rootScope conception. Added variables are visible both in the controller and in the view. As for Angular's architecture, it doesn't use controllers but components. Components create templates used in the interface building process.
AngularJS affords the use of a two-way data binding function that significantly reduces the time of application or website development. Angular also implements two-way data binding, and the improved structure of the website also contributes to the improvement of the efficiency and speed of building the website.
AngularJS uses tools provided by other companies to increase its efficiency. Often, such tools as IDE and Webstorm are used. However, Angular uses a command-line interface (CLI) to reduce developers’ working time
Currently, most popular is the newer version of Angular because of new options and access to a well-built library. Choosing Angular over AngularJS in every project, however, will not be a good decision. Choosing the right technology depends on the specifics and complexity of the project. Before making such a decision, it is important to try to answer the following questions. What libraries am I going to use? Are the libraries compatible with Angular? What web browsers am I going to support? Honest answers will help to choose the technology that is better suited to the stated needs.
Below, we briefly describe the most important elements, features, and functionalities of Angular technology.
Thanks to an architecture based on the MVW model (Model-View-Whatever), Angular combines the ideas, elements, and functions of JavaScript and the MVC pattern. The MVW model aims to make HTML code more expressive and readable. The whole design of Angular's library is based on this premise. Depending on needs, the applications can be based on various architectural patterns that Angular can support. The MVW concept enables work within the MVC (Model-View-Controller) and MVVM (Model-View-View-Model) patterns.
Dependency injection is another important aspect of the library because implemented functionalities in code become more automated. The major rule of dependency injection is to have a service that supports completing the necessary dependencies. This design pattern is often mistaken for Inversion of Control (IoC) when, in fact, technically speaking, dependency injection is one of the particular implementations of the inversion of control paradigm.
Modules are containers within the layers of our application (controllers, services, directives). A module is a fundamental data storage device, similar to a class, but unable to be instantiated because it is based on slightly different functionality. Importantly, the modular structure of the framework significantly supports large team collaboration.
This is a feature that separates Angular from the other front-end libraries in the pack. This mechanism provides dynamic data synchronization between the view layer and the data model layer. The change is always reflected in both components. Two-way binding is a combination of property and event binding.
Another very important feature of Angular is proper navigation, offering the ability to redirect and intercept the display of the page view if the appropriate address is available.
An indispensable aspect of every application is data filtration. Angular offers filtering embedded mechanisms that, in a sense, write their own data filtering functions for the developer.
In Angular, IDE tools, such as WebStorm, are very often used. An IDE is not a specific tool, but an integrated development environment that enables writing code, for example. WebStorm is one of the most popular IDEs that offers a number of features to make code writing faster and easier. Thanks to it, the user can, among other things, preview changes and solve problems directly within the IDE.
Angular owes its growing popularity mainly to its numerous advantages. Below are presented the most important advantages of the technology, most appreciated by developers.
The libraries facilitate many flexible options for exploiting their potential. The MVC design divides the application into three elements, which can be interpreted in several ways.
The library features two-way data binding, thereby requiring less code because Angular itself catches the changes in the model layer and executes the corresponding modifications in HTML code.
Testing an app developed with Angular has become much easier because the library promotes the aforementioned MVC architecture, further facilitating the integration of unit testing.
One of the major disadvantages of this technology is the limited access to the platform's SEO options. A big downside is also the poor access to web crawlers, i.e. programs that analyze data about the structure and content of websites, allowing for their positioning.
Developers admit that Angular is not the simplest technology and is relatively difficult to learn. It is no wonder that with such a complex network of modules and a huge amount of customization possibilities, it takes a little longer to understand Angular.
Bear in mind that Angular was created with large and complex projects in mind, so it is not wise to use it when creating small and simple websites because, in this case, technology instead of making our work easier, can only complicate it even more.
The aim of Angular is to create the most streamlined environment for front-end developers, who focus primarily on the aspect of application design. Angular works best when it comes to big and complex projects involving complex infrastructure. It pays to use this technology when designing progressive web applications (PWA) and developing applications for websites based on dynamic content. Developers also choose Angular to update obsolete web applications. In summary, Angular is used to create large and complex projects. A good example of the use of this technology can be the Google Cloud platform. Angular can also be used in small projects. However, due to its specific requirements, in the case of small and simple projects, developers usually choose simpler and easier to learn frameworks.
Each application developed in Angular technology must have at least one module, which is the main module (AppModule). The module is often referred to as the core of the application because it contains all Angular elements such as services, components, and directives. Segmentation of the application into modules is very useful in defining the various functions. It is about creating separate modules, e.g. login module and user display module. The module declares the most important components of Angular.
The technology uses NgModules, which complement JavaScript modules. Angular modules can bind components with code to create functional units. The main module plays a significant role as it provides the bootstrap mechanism responsible for running the application. Other functional modules can import or export functions from other modules. Additionally, the code organization technique in different modules enables the use of a function to load modules on demand. Thanks to this, there is no need to always load all of the code but rather launch only parts of it.
Every application built with Angular technology must have at least one main component that connects the component hierarchy to the page’s document object model (DOM). Furthermore, each component defines a class containing its own data and logic in the application.
Angular has been ranked highly as one of the most frequently chosen technologies by front-end developers for several years. It owes its well-established place primarily to its well-built structure and numerous advantages. Here is a list of the most important reasons why this technology is so popular.
Google is very committed to ensuring that the technology they create and develop is not only perfectly understood by its own employees but also by other users. For this reason, Angular's documentation is very detailed. It not only describes the smallest details, contains all the necessary information, but also answers the most frequent questions of programmers who are at the beginning of their adventure with Angular.
Cultivating an extensive ecosystem of third-party tools and components that can be used in Angular applications contributed significantly to Angular’s success. A developer, thanks to this, can achieve significant improvements in terms of functionality and productivity.
Architecture based on components is one of the most important features of Angular that significantly increases its popularity. According to this architecture, an application is segmented into independent logical and functional components. Developers appreciate the independence of elements, which makes it easy to test the application and ensure that each component runs smoothly.
No one is surprised that the framework released and developed by the technology giant has gathered a large community around it that actively communicates with each other, exchanges advice, and helps in solving problems.
If you want to find out more about Angular or need support in a project that uses Angular – write to us via the contact form.
