React vs Vue vs Angular – Which is best for front-end development?

While developing a new website, you could face many difficulties in choosing the right technology. In 2019, it was impractical to perform web development without HTML, CSS, and Javascript.

JavaScript frameworks are becoming popular very quickly, meaning that today we frequently have the latest versions of Angular, React and another player in the industry — Vue.js.

The differentiation of these three most powerful frontend frameworks will help you make the right choice according to your real requirements, and not just current trends.

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AngularJS framework

The AngularJS framework was first introduced by Google in 2010. In 2016, Angular 2 introduced, which was a complete rewrite of Angular.js. It is a superheroic JavaScript MVVM framework which is the best for developing highly interactive web applications. Google and Wix are among the most famous companies using Angular.

Benefits of AngularJS

• Angular’s introduced to be used alongside with Typescript.
• It provides intelligence and auto-complete inside component external HTML template files.
• It provides detailed documentation.
• Get fast and easy application development.
• Develop an enterprise-ready single-page application.
• Get outstanding front end development, yielding better outcomes.

Cons of AngularJS

• Lower Render Speed
• It provides heavyweight code.
• It does not use virtual DOM at all
• It doesn’t use shadow DOM as a default

Angular in Action

Various apps that are very popular across the globe were developed with Angular, and there are some excellent reasons for this.

• PayPal
• Strapping – Order Management System
• The Guardian
• Toddy – Hybrid Mobile App

When to use Angular?

Angular is used for:

• Progressive web apps
• Hybrid mobile apps development
• Enterprise Software

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ReactJS framework

React is a JavaScript framework created in 2013 to build user interfaces. It is supported by Facebook and Instagram and has become a core language for the endless feed on these two platforms. 

As a JS framework, React has a limited sphere of usage, but when combined with other libraries, it becomes an exceptional solution, making it a main competitor of Angular.

Benefits of ReactJS

• It has a component model and virtual DOM.
• It provides one-way data binding.
• Easy to migrate
• It has a smooth and continuous SEO integration.
• It provides better code stability.

Cons of ReactJS

• It requires third-party technologies.
• It has a complex app structure.
• It is not the easiest technology to learn.

What’s new in ReactJS?

In version 16.8.0, React.js has provided Hooks. They enable you to utilize state and other React features without writing a class. 

The inventors of React claim that they have no discussions about deleting classes from the library. That is just an option for React developers, which still needs enhancement. So, there’s no need to rewrite the entire code with React Hooks. However, some components are worth it.

The introduction of React Hooks makes learning easier for frontend beginners. Also, React Hooks enable programmers to adhere to functional programming instead of object-oriented programming.

ReactJS in action

React was built and supported by Facebook and Instagram, and these two social media platforms are the greatest example of React usage.

When to use ReactJS?

React is pretty universal, which means that you can develop any kind of application with it. However, there are some examples for which ReactJS is the best option. For the following apps, ReactJS is currently the best option available in the industry.

• Dynamic application
• Single-page apps
• Cross-platform mobile apps

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Vue.js framework

It is a progressive Javascript framework released in 2014 and built by no big name like React and Angular. In fact, it was invented by an ex-engineer of Google, Evan You. It is becoming popular constantly. Its latest version; Version 2.6.10 was introduced on 20 March 2019.

Vue.js is a newcomer in the family of Javascript frameworks. It has practically removed the disadvantages of the other frameworks to provide ease of the next level to software developers. Websites like GitLab and Alibaba are using Vue.js.

Benefits of Vue.js

• It is an MVC framework.
• It provides lightweight solutions.
• It provides a low learning curve
• Two-way data binding

Cons of Vue.js

• It includes fewer libraries and has a small community.
• it might have issues while integrating into big projects.

Vue.js in action

Even though Vue.js is the youngest technology in the industry, it is already being used in various large-scale projects, mostly in China. 

The websites for Alibaba, Baidu, Xiaomi, and Tencent all utilize Vue.js as a central frontend technology. 

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Comparing Angular vs Vue vs React

• Popularity

According to the Stack Overflow survey, React.js is the most popular framework, followed by Vue.js. Undoubtedly, Vue.js has gained massive popularity since its launch in 2014. It is still expected that this framework will get more popular more in the coming years.

According to the latest trends, in the case of popularity, ReactJS is on top, followed by AngularJS and then Vue.js. Although it is clear that ReactJS is the most popular framework in 2019, it does not mean that it is the best. Many other points will decide which framework is the most suitable for any kind of web development project.

• Performance

AngularJS uses real DOM that affects its performance and efficiency to build a dynamic software application. Furthermore, it results in the bad performance of this Javascript framework.

ReactJS is using virtual DOM. It is not lightweight and browser-specific. It is provided in React package for free and eliminates the problems of the slow performance of real DOM.

Vue.js supports virtual DOM as an adopted concept of ReactJS. This provides faster and hassle-free performance.

• Top use cases

AngularJS is built by Google and utilized in its Google AdWords applications. The Guardian and Weather.com are the well-known names that are using AngularJS.

ReactJS was developed and utilized for the maintenance and coding of Facebook. Twitter, Whatsapp, and Instagram are the popular names using ReactJS, whereas 9Gag and GitLab are using Vue.js.

• Community support

AngularJS was introduced by the renowned market-leader Google which provides strong community support since its invention.

ReactJS was developed by Facebook, has coded its several products to React and invested in it heavily. This is the main reason behind the continuous growing reliability of ReactJS in the industry. 

Unlike Angular vs React, Vue.js is not backed by any popular name. This is the reason it has less popularity, but in reality, this Javascript framework gained outstanding popularity in the open-source community.

• Learning curve

In the case of the learning curve, among the other two, Vue.js has the upper hand as it is considered more friendly by the developers.

• Flexibility

AngularJS provides everything from routing to templates. You do not have to migrate to any other tool to build your project.

Unlike AngularJS, ReactJS does not provide a lot in the official React library as it is not much opinionated like AngularJS.

Vue.js also has a server-side render to provide the server-side development of an application. Hence, it is not as much opinionated as AngularJS but not as flexible as ReactJS.

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Final call – Vue vs React vs Angular

After researching in-depth about AngularJS, ReactJS, and Vue.js, we can conclude these four things:

• Vue and React provide better performance and flexibility than Angular.
• Angular is highly opinionated and unlike Vue and React, and it has a complete package of routing, templates, and testing utilities.
• Vue and React are the best for light-weight applications, and Angular is the best choice for large UI applications.
• Vue is the youngest, loved and growing framework of Javascript.

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Why choose RavStack for frontend development?

JavaScript frameworks do magic when developing user interfaces. We at RavStack provide solutions for quick and robust development, enabling you to develop more sophisticated interfaces, and extends the possibilities on the client-side of the web application.

We always leverage the latest technologies that allow us to provide fully functional and flexible development services. We have dedicated and professional developers, who let your developed solution to be integrated with the best features of Angular, React and Vue framework.