If you’re building a website with lots of moving parts, then Angular is the framework you need. Developed and maintained by Google, the framework is a fan favourite amongst developers; especially for front-end development.
Angular takes a lot of the burden off of the developer’s shoulder. Many of the processes are automated on Angular. This includes dependency injection and the MVC architecture. Its popularity is the reason why Google developers haven’t stopped working on the framework.
Though the general consensus sides with Angular, there are some people vehemently against the framework. Developers think it is unnecessarily complicated and heavy. But the majority of the hate is based on misconceptions about the framework. We’re here to set those straight.
6 Misconceptions about AngularJS (And why it’s wrong)
- Angular applications are slow
Angular is built to be a fast framework. So if your Angular app is slow, there is most probably a fixable issue causing this.
Rendering too often
When an application is forced to update frequently, there will obviously be a lag in the browser. The fix for this is simple. Set your components to update “on push”. Components that don’t need to be checked won’t be re-rendered.
Virtual Scrolling is another method you can use to fix this issue. Here, you will only render what the users can see. You could potentially have some usability problems down the line. But virtual scrolling is a reliable fix.
Slow Codes
If rendering is not the issue, then it could be that your code is just slow. Heavy scripting is most often the culprit here. We recommend you use Web Workers or Web Assembly to fix this issue. Web Workers is a script that allows web content to run scripts in background threads. Web Assembly allows code written in multiple languages to run at near-native speed.
- You need to learn TypeScript
TypeScript is a programming language that is used to develop large applications without complex codes. While it is useful to know TypeScript, it is not mandatory for developing AngularJS applications.
Instead of TypeScript, you can also use JavaScript, or Dart to use Angular. But if you spend the time to learn TypeScript, you can use tools like advanced autocompletion, navigation, and refactoring. If you’re building a large application, these tools will reduce your workload.
TypeScript Pointer: Though it may seem intimidating, TypeScript is a superset of JavaScript. It is not so difficult to migrate to. If you can gradually ease into TypeScript, your experience with AngularJS will be much better.
- You can’t build complex web applications
This can’t be further from the truth. Angular has a feature that reduces buggy coding. This feature is interpreted as being suitable only for small applications. However, the truth is that AngularJS is perfect for scaling applications.
Angular has tons of ready-made solutions that make it easy to scare a web application. This includes code reusability and MVC architecture.
Another reason why people believe this is because Angular is mostly meant for Single Page Applications (SPA). This means that the webpage data will download once, after which you can browse the website.
SPAs can cause SEO limitations, but these are easily circumvented. One way is to use Angular Universe to render the app on the server-side. If you hire a dedicated angular developer, they will know exactly how to manage your web app.
The following are some of the top websites built using Angular.
- It is difficult to learn
HTML is the first language all coders learn. Angular is based on HTML and JavaScript. As with anything new, if you aren’t accustomed to Angular, you can find it difficult. But if you have a basic knowledge of JavaScript and CSS, then Angular is very easy to learn.
A shift in how you apply logic is needed to build successful Angular applications. This process is difficult to start with. But as you get used to the Angular framework, you will see that it has so many modules and tools that make it easy to learn and apply to projects.
Here are some pointers to make Angular easy for you.
Feature-based grouping
Yes, Angular uses the MVC architecture. And yes, MVC frameworks usually group files by type. But when using the Angular framework, a type-based grouping will let you down. Feature-based grouping will separate specific functionalities, so you don’t have to load the entire app at once. This will increase the application’s speed.
Install Batarang
This is a Chrome extension that will reduce the bugs in your Angular code. It also has model browsing which improves testing analysis.
- Testing is tedious
Angular applies unit testing and end-to-end testing to eliminate bugs in your code. This tool is meant to simplify the testing process, but many beginners call it confusing.
To simplify unit testing, make sure you run it in an isolated environment. This will make the testing run faster. You can also use spies from the Jasmine framework to make the process quicker.
For end-to-end testing, install the Angular CLI. This will give you the command to run the test. Yes, the process may seem long. But proper testing of your web application helps ensure a good user experience.
- Angular is too big
Angular is a robust framework that results in apps with large bundle sizes. But you can easily reduce the size of your production bundles. Here are some ways to optimise your application.
Tune Your ES6 Imports
The ES6 module system allows you to easily remove dead code from the production bundle. First, analyse which bundles need tuning. Then, check if that bundle is using ES6 imports or not. If it is, you can apply tree-shaking to easily remove the dead code. If the bundle is not using ES6 imports, then check for alternate packages that have this function.
Lazy Loading
Lazy loading is a strategy where you split a big production bundle into smaller functions. This way, the whole bundle will not run at the same time, but only as needed. This will improve the site’s performance and increase the speed.
Use the latest version
Angular 9 uses an Ivy compiler that optimises Angular. Similarly, each succeeding version has tools that help increase the speed and reduce the load. That’s why it’s recommended to always use the latest version of the framework.
As of December 2021, the Angular framework is most used by high traffic sites. This speaks for the reliability that Angular has. We hope this article helps clear your apprehension about using Angular.