It's been almost two years since I've used Angular. The last thing I used it for is a web app that is likely to be revived this year. It feels like I haven't heard much about Angular these past couple years, and I know I've seen complaints about the latest updates to the framework slide across my feed.
So is Angular still in the ring? Should I polish up my ng skills and bring old projects up to speed? Or should I keep learning React like I was throughout 2020 and let Angular drift away?
Top comments (7)
No angular is not dead. I still use it and recommend it for large/enterprise applications. It's a fantastic language even if it has a steep learning curve. I use Vue for smaller applications or applications that need a quick turn around.
The benefit of angular is that it's opinionated and has a relatively strict coding pattern. It has an easy upgrade path though and it's performance and abilities have increased with each release. It's Ivy compiler release was a huge improvement in performance and it has gotten better with each release.
That being said, all the main frameworks out today are damn good for building with. I came from a C++ background so typescript and angular were a pretty easy transition and mental model for me. I like React and Vue as well.
Thank you for reminding me of Angular’s strengths. Having been submerged in JavaScript for a year or two, I’m missing the advantages of typescript. I need to check out Vue at some point.
Yeah. I think the "wars" between frameworks is kind of silly really. You choose one, learn it in depth, and you'll be fine. That being said, I started learning Svelte because my non-Angular applications are more prioritized to: 1) Performance and 2) Minimal code to get up and running and Svelte seems to, in my opinion, address both of those better than React and Vue. There's a good talk here: svelte.dev/blog/svelte-3-rethinkin...
Angular has largely in practice moved into maintenance mode. It had 3 releases in 2020 none of which contained much noteworthy in any category. Google's own heavy use of it is keeping it back. Google's complex proprietary internal toolchain is keeping the legacy View Engine alive. Angular libraries are still compiled using the View Engine format. It's... moving... slow. Don't worry, you haven't missed much except you might or might not have a hard time upgrading from Angular version 8 View Engine to version 9 Ivy. That's about it. Oh, and you have to solve linting on your own. Also Protractor is even worse off.
Thank you. Feels like a sober assessment.
Hope its dead.
I think Angular is still very much alive. As with all web development, there will always be something shiny and new around the corner!