Both Angular and Vue are progressive frameworks built to optimize code reusability, productivity, and cross-platform compatibility. Angular uses TypeScript, while Vue uses JavaScript. There are other differences between the two, mostly related to design philosophy and performance.
Talking of Angular vs Vue- what is the difference? Angular is an MVC (Model-View-Controller) framework that’s component-based, so it abstracts the UI layer from the underlying logic. Vue follows a similar principle but is far more customizable and easier to learn for developers.
Angular uses a shadow DOM system, that prioritizes the encapsulation of component styles (and it is faster than accessing the real DOM). Vue uses a virtual DOM to render the UI, it is faster than Angular’s implementation (with certain advantages and disadvantages). Features like two-way data binding and server-side rendering are present in both frameworks, plus they share many similarities when it comes to directives.
| Angular | Vue | |
| What It Is | A TypeScript-based frontend framework for scalable web apps, it uses the MVC architecture | A JavaScript-based frontend framework that’s progressive and approachable, the core library deals with the “View” layer of MVC |
| Made By | The Angular team at Google, it’s predecessor AngularJS was developed by Misko Hevery in 2010 | Evan You, a Google engineer. The internal version was created in 2013, with an open-source release in 2014 |
| Usage | Single-page applications, dynamic web apps, enterprise websites, native mobile apps | Dynamic single-page applications that update frequently, progressive web apps, native mobile applications (with Vue Native) |
| Performance | Good, with dynamic component rendering and shadow DOM | Excellent, has a virtual DOM and is lighter than Angular |
| Popularity | Used by major companies and brands such as Microsoft, Forbes, Upwork, PayPal, etc. | Used by Facebook, Netflix, Xiaomi, Adobe, Grammarly, etc. |
| Community | It is managed by a corporate team at Google with tons of official documentation and has a thriving global community | Guided by an international team of experienced developers. Supports a vast range of third-party plugins and libraries |
| Ease Of Learning | Takes slightly longer to learn due to its size and reliance on TypeScript | Uses JavaScript and is less opinionated, light size and flexible design mean it can be learned quicker |
| Features | Cross-platform, component-based, two-way data binding, server-side rendering, integrated testing and debugging through CLI, support for popular IDEs, etc. | Virtual DOM, two-way data binding, easy integration with existing apps and frameworks, supports ES6 JavaScript and Babel, reactivity, custom directives, etc. |
History of Angular
The origins of Angular can be traced back to 2010 when version 1.0 was released. Back then, it was called AngularJS and written in JavaScript instead of TypeScript. You have to understand that there was nothing even comparable to AngularJS back in 2010.
This new framework shifted everyone’s view on web development. It offered creators a tool to create modular, reusable and easily maintainable web apps. The earliest version of AngularJS was created in 2009 by Misko Hevery at Brat Tech.
It was conceived as a frontend for his online JSON-based storage renting service, marketed at enterprises who wished to develop web applications. After some time, Misko abandoned this startup venture and decided to release AngularJS as its own library. During the process, he also made it open source.
A component-based application structure was introduced with version 1.6, which increased encapsulation and improved security. Eventually, Google decided to fund the development of Angular and dedicated a team to manage this task. Nowadays, official development for AngularJS has been discontinued and it doesn’t receive any updates.
That’s because Google’s team rewrote the entire framework in 2016, and released it as “Angular 2”. Every version since then has just been called “Angular” to remove any confusion. The old AngularJS name is reserved for version 1 and its many variants.
Angular retains the same component-based design and MVC architecture but adds several new features. Plus, it’s based on TypeScript. This results in statically typed code and object-oriented programming.
Sure, ever since the ECMAScript 6 standards, JS has provided options for both object-oriented and functional programming. But you’ll be limited to just JS in AngularJS, while Angular supports both TypeScript and JavaScript. Another benefit of Angular is that it is optimized for mobile devices while the old AngularJS isn’t.
There are several other improvements made by Angular, but I won’t delve into those in this article. For now, suffice it to say that Angular is the way forward for thousands of web developers around the world. It gets constant updates from Google and is used by several large multinational corporations for the front end of their websites/ web apps.
History of Vue
Just like Angular, Vue is an MVC/ MVVM framework and shares many of the same features. There’s a good reason for this since it was created by Evan You- a Google engineer who has lots of experience working with AngularJS. Evan developed a forward-looking framework that took the best elements of Angular and shrunk it down to a much more compact size.
The original version of Vue.js was created in 2013, and it was released to the public in 2014. One of the reasons Vue is so light is that it started out as a prototyping tool for a UI Evan was working on. He was bogged down by writing tons of HTML and didn’t want to deal with complicated frameworks that were designed for larger tasks.
So, he decided to make Angular lighter and more flexible by taking some inspiration from React (which was still very new at the time). While Vue started out as a lightweight tool, it can be used to create more complex applications. That’s because of its scalable and modular design.
Comparing Their Features
As you probably know by now, Angular and Vue share many commonalities. They are both MVC frameworks based on components, which are essentially reusable modules that combine UI and logic into one file. Using an MVC architecture allows the app to be structured in a way that facilitates parallel development of UI and logic.
This is done by abstracting the View layer from the Model layer. Meaning incremental updates are much easier and developers can roll out new frontends based on the same core logic. Both Vue and Angular support things like two-way data binding, server-side rendering, and custom directives.
But there is also a lot that is different between these two frameworks. While Vue.js supports TypeScript, it is preferable to use JavaScript for development. On the contrary, Angular is designed entirely around TypeScript.
TypeScript allows for object-oriented programming and is a strongly typed language. It is also compiled prior to runtime since browsers don’t natively support TypeScript. Instead, all TypeScript code is first converted into JavaScript which is then interpreted by browsers.
Because of how this process works, errors are less likely to show up at runtime in apps written with TypeScript. The syntax is similar between the two, and modern ES6 JavaScript can implement certain Object-Oriented-Programming (OOP) concepts. TypeScript can also use JavaScript libraries.
While Angular is often promoted as a progressive framework, it really doesn’t compare to Vue in this aspect. Angular is a full-fledged framework, with more rigid restrictions on how your app or project is structured. It is a larger, more complex toolkit that deals with the entire MVC stack.
In comparison, Vue.js has a core library that only deals with the “View” layer of MVC. And developers can bolt on additional items as they see fit. This allows Vue.js to transition between being a library like React, and a full-fledged framework like Angular.
This flexibility and lightweight construction make Vue a truly progressive framework and the best in that category. Nothing else comes close. Performance is improved due to Vue’s lightweight design and use of a virtual DOM system.
Things like static site generation, routing, state management, testing units, etc. can be added as part of an interconnected ecosystem within Vue. The framework also has its own Command Line Interface (CLI) and supports a wide range of IDEs. Both Vue and Angular come with official component libraries, while also supporting a wide range of third-party UI libraries.
Comparing Their Performance
Angular and Vue are both quite fast, but Vue takes the lead thanks to its lighter size and virtual DOM. Angular is a better fit if you’re designing large-scale projects based on features. But Vue is the better choice for smaller, more dynamic sites that need to update the view rapidly based on changing user input.
Hence, you’ll see a lot of large enterprise websites using Angular. While social media and streaming sites prefer Vue or React. This isn’t always the case, but it shows the fundamental difference in priorities between the two frameworks.
Comparing How They Work
Angular uses TypeScript, while Vue primarily uses JavaScript. Both frameworks can work with either TypeScript or JavaScript, but documentation and official support will be limited if you choose an alternate language. TypeScript has static typing which is better for applications that need to scale and process lots of data.
Plus Java and C developers will have an easier time acclimating to TypeScript. But the additional overhead of static typing is not optimal for smaller projects. Vue supports official typing and decorators for developers with experience in TypeScript.
Vue, in general, is a less opinionated framework compared to Angular. This means that developers get access to a wide range of build systems, allowing them to structure and develop their projects in any way they want. Vue is also a progressive framework, with a core library that focuses only on the View layer of MVC (developers can add libraries for routing and state management based on their needs).
Vue uses a virtual DOM that is more like what React uses. While Angular uses a shadow DOM. The virtual DOM is a complete copy of the real DOM in memory.
Changes to the real DOM are made by comparing the past and present states of the virtual DOM. Shadow DOM is not a complete representation of the real DOM, but a subtree of certain elements that are used for encapsulation. A Shadow DOM’s primary use is for scoping variables and CSS- ensuring that styles employed by a Shadow DOM element remain within that scope.
Comparing Their Popularity
Angular is currently used by 0.5% of all websites with known JavaScript libraries (or 0.4% of total websites). In comparison, Vue.js is used by 0.9% of all websites with known JavaScript libraries (or 0.7% of total websites). Clearly, more companies are interested in Vue because of its approachability and progressive nature.
But the numbers can be misleading since Angular is used by a lot of enterprise sites that serve millions of users worldwide. Hence, it is hard to say how many individuals use sites made with either framework. But this much is certain- frontend frameworks such as Vue and Angular are currently the hottest trend in web development, with no signs of going away anytime soon.
Which Is Easier To Learn?
The general consensus among developers is that Vue remains a very approachable framework. That’s because it’s designed to be flexible and uses HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Even amateur web developers can pick up Vue and start creating web apps right away.
In comparison, Angular uses TypeScript and favors an object-oriented approach which is different from what most JavaScript developers are familiar with. Plus, it’s a more opinionated framework. Angular is larger and more complex than Vue, which can be daunting for new web developers.
However, Angular is maintained by a corporate team which means you get access to more thorough documentation (plus it’s an older framework). Vue is more community-driven, which gives it a large library of third-party plugins and libraries. Initially, Angular is more difficult to learn but provides superior testing and debugging tools.
Conclusion
Angular and Vue are both excellent frontend frameworks that provide solutions to many overlapping problems. However, both of these frameworks have unique pros and cons over the other. Angular is a full-fledged, opinionated framework that is better suited to feature-rich enterprise websites of large scale that deal with lots of data.
Meanwhile, Vue is a more compact and flexible framework that works better for dynamic, interaction-focused sites (like social media or streaming). It combines the strengths of a framework such as Angular, and a library such as React, into one package. Plus, it’s easier to learn for the average web developer.