Working on a new project requires the selection of new frameworks and technologies. Web developers have to decide between different frameworks. This decision can be influenced by several different factors. Many are influenced by the trends in the tech world while others look out for specific features provided by these frameworks.
Three main frameworks are popular among developers. These frameworks include Angular, React, and Vue. Choosing a framework out of these three options is a common debate topic among developers. According to a survey conducted by StackOverflow in 2022, about 41% of developers chose React as their favorite framework, 22.96% chose Angular and about 18.97% people chose Vue. This shows that although these frameworks have their qualities and specifications, React is the most widely used and popular one among developers.
WHAT IS ANGULAR?
Angular is a framework that was launched by Google back in 2016. Because angular was a product of Google, it quickly gained fame and popularity among developers. Angular is also the predecessor of AngularJS. AngularJS was launched four years before angular, back in 2010.
The main difference between Angular and AngularJS is the script used in both technologies. Angular uses Typescript where as AngularJS uses Javascript. Typescript is not as popular among developers as Javascript. This is why the progress of Angular has been rather slow.
Angular is used to produce professional and modern interfaces. A framework is a foundation that provides the basic building blocks of making an application. When it comes to Angular, a component-based architecture is used. This means a framework that builds on smaller and easy components and makes up a complex structure. A huge advantage of angular is that it lets you build complex applications without the need of looking for third-party packages.
Companies such as Microsoft, PayPal, Upwork, Gmail, and more use Angular for development.
WHAT IS REACT?
React is a framework built on Javascript. It is used to build interactive user interfaces. React was released in 2013 by Facebook. It is an open-source library and thus it is managed and maintained by both Facebook and the open-source community.
One of the biggest plus points of React is that you can create both mobile applications and websites using the same codebase. Alongside making UI, you also get features such as React Native and Flux with React.
Among all the JavaScript libraries for building user interfaces, React tops the list. Every React application is built with components. These components are essentially just pieces of UI. These components are reusable and combine together to build complex structures or applications.
Every react application has a component which is referred to as the root component. The root component contains Internal applications and other child components. Therefore, you can think of a react application as a tree of different components leading to the root component.
React is a library. When you are building an application, you can not do so with just React. You will need other libraries for things like routing, calling HTTP services, and so on. This means that with React, you can choose the libraries you want when building an application.
WHAT IS VUE?
Vue is an open-source JavaScript framework developed by Evan You. It was released in 2014 and gained popularity because of its simplicity and easy-to-use interface. Vue is used to build single-page applications or SPAs. Single-page applications are the type of web applications that only need one HTML to render the entire code.
Vue is a progressive framework. A progressive framework is the type of framework that starts small and scales up as per the requirement. Vue is pretty easy to learn and has the smallest learning curve out of the above-mentioned frameworks. Because it is a JavaScript library, you can expect to use all the other libraries provided by JavaScript with Vue without having to write all the lengthy codes over and over again.
Vue is a highly efficient framework. It is based on a component architecture. Meaning it takes the approach of combining smaller pieces and combining them to make a complete structure. Another advantage of Vue is that it is extremely lightweight,
Companies like Adobe and Nintendo are currently using the Vue framework.
Angular Vs. React Vs. Vue: Which One to Choose?
Now, that you have a clear idea of what angular, react and vue is. Let’s look at which of the technologies should you opt for, for your next big project.
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Library Vs. Framework:
Let’s first look at the difference between a library and a framework. Many developers use these two terms interchangeably, but there is a significant difference between the two. Library refers to a collection of reusable code that can be used to solve common problems. There are various libraries available that can help you solve different issues. For example, there are libraries for performing different arithmetic operations, routing, and so on. On the other hand, a framework gives reusable code as well as a structure or skeleton to build applications. Meaning with the help of a framework, you get a complete package on how to build a complete application.
React is a library. Whereas, Vue and Angular both are frameworks. Is using a framework better than using a library? That depends completely on what kind of developer you are.
React is perfect if you are someone who needs the freedom to have multiple libraries for different functions in your program. Whereas, Vue and Angular are great options if you don’t have preferences when choosing a library for a specific task.
- Stability:
Stability refers to how many changes you can expect in your chosen framework or library. Angular provides major updates and changes every 6 months or so. Whereas, both Vue and React are a lot more stable and do not go through major changes as regularly as Angular.
With Angular-made applications, you have to make necessary changes at least twice a year. React is used by big companies such as Twitter and Airbnb. So, Facebook is a lot more reluctant to make major changes in its structure. Lastly, Vue is the most stable out of the three because around 91% of the APIs in V1 and V2 are the same.
- Popularity:
The popularity of a framework or library matters a lot when trying to decide which one to work with. A framework or library with more popularity means it has a bigger developer community which makes it easier to use and helps you, the developer find solutions easily as well.
According to StackOverflow, the most popular one among these technologies is React. Next on the list is Vue. Angular’s popularity has declined over the years, giving it the third position among these technologies.
React has the most amount of contributors on Stackoverflow, second on the list is Angular. Since Vue is a considerably new technology, it has the least amount of contributors.
Learn more about the difference between React and Angular in our article on the difference between MEAN and MERN stack development here.
Choosing the right framework can be a difficult process. Many factors contribute to helping you decide which framework would best fit your requirements. All in all, the right framework heavily depends on the type of work you do and what your goals are from the project.
