AngularJS vs. ReactJS vs. VueJS: The Differences in a Different Way!

JavaScript has always been the number one choice for various web development projects. 

Just as popular JavaScript is, so are its frameworks and libraries!

The most famous ones include AngularJS, ReactJS, and VueJS. All three are the very competent framework and libraries, respectively, of JavaScript. They are always well-performing and evolving to revolutionize the world of web development. 

That’s why it often becomes challenging to decide whether to choose AngularJS and hire AngularJS programmers, go with ReactJS by employing its developer or start with VueJS by hiring its coder!

Phew! Too much confusion. 

But there’s a solution to this confusing trouble ahead in this write-up. 

We will be discussing the differences between AngularJS, ReactJS, and VueJS ahead in a different way. 

What’s that way?

You may find many places with variations between these three. But the one ahead is with a different perspective of being based on usage parameters including popularity, syntax, and performance standards. 

Because, in the end, it’s all about the use!

So, done and dusted with the introduction now, let’s start with what we have actually come here for. 

The Overview

Since basics are a must, let’s start with an overview of each. 

AngularJS

AngularJS is a JavaScript front-end framework by Google. Angular allows websites to render rapidly and efficiently instead of interacting with a server to reload HTML pages. 

Being an all-in-one framework, AngularJS comes with built-in tools for various functions such as routing, state-management solutions, form validation, etc. It is built on TypeScript, which is a superset of JavaScript. 

ReactJS

Having Backed by Facebook, ReactJS is a JavaScript front-end library that allows building and rendering components for a web page. ReactJS works very well with JSX, a syntax extension of JavaScript, which defines UI’s (User Interface) ideal look in the JavaScript code. 

ReactJS has various tools to help you build components that are used onto a page. ReactJS with this becomes lean. 

The developers may use additional libraries with ReactJS to include more functionalities. 

VueJS

Vue.js is a front-end JavaScript library that assists with developing interactive web interfaces. It ensures providing the benefits of reactive data binding and composable view components with the simplest API.

The extensive documentation and simple syntax of VueJS make it an easy-to-use and learn option. 

It is effortless to integrate with other libraries or your existing projects. VueJS, with proper tooling and libraries, is capable of powering very well the SPAs (Single-Page Applications).

Journey Down the Lane 

AngularJS: Angular came into existence in 2010 by Google. In 2016, Angular2 came, which brought about a substantial shift. Various organizations such as The Guardian and Weather.com have made use of Angular.

ReactJS: ReactJS made its debut in 2013. Bir brands such as Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Instagram, Microsoft, Slack, Asana, Airbnb, and more have made use of ReactJS for their significant web development projects. 

VueJS: VueJS, also known as Vue, is relatively young out of all three. It was developed in 2014 by the ex-Google employee, Evan You. VueJS, since then, has gained good popularity over the span of a few years. 

VueJS has successfully managed to fulfill the web development goals of several firms like 9Gag, Alibaba, and Gitlab. 

What Benefits are Served?

Each one has its own set of benefits for you. Let’s take a look at them:

AngularJS

• The use of TypeScript by AngularJS provides excellent support for type-checking along with external tooling.
• Being powered by Google means the support of a dependable organization. 
• Detailed documentation and a vast community. 
• Angular-language-service with autocomplete enables you to speed up your development.

ReactJS

• ReactJS is lightweight and offers a simple JS design using a syntax integrated with HTML and JavaScript. 
• ReactJS provides great documentation, as well.  
• The Virtual DOM implementation and rendering optimizations fasten the performance.
• Create-react-app template generator supports Progressive Web App (PWA) development. 
• With ReactJS, reusing codes, creating a modularized design, etc. is feasible. Developing and scaling complex infrastructure also become more manageable. 

VueJS

• The documentation of VueJS makes for a low learning curve for developers. Having knowledge of HTML and JavaScript, you can build robust single-page applications using VueJS. 
• The VueJS apps can integrate easily into an existing infrastructure without any sort of adverse effect on the system.
• VueJS is quite small due to which the speed and flexibility provided are optimal. This results in better performance compared to other frameworks and libraries. 

The Differences Explained

Popularity

Popularity is a priority while deciding on choosing one. Let’s evaluate based on the following parameters. 

• Google Trends: Talking about Google Trends at this time in 2020, ReactJS is quite popular than the other two. You can anytime check for the same. This result is not equal to the usage in the industry but what people are keener about. 

• NPM Downloads: With NPM downloads, ReactJS again experiences more downloads than VueJS or AngularJS. This implies that ReactJS is used more amidst developers. 

• StackOverflow Survey: The StackOverflow survey for 2020 puts ReactJS on the 2nd position, Angular at 9th, and VueJS on the 7th in terms of popularity. For most wanted ones, ReactJS stands 1st, Angular is 3rd, and VueJS is 2nd. 

• Jobs:  In this year of 2020, ReactJS appeared to have more job offerings. This is followed by Angular at the second and VueJS at the third for jobs. 

Thus, we can say that, while all three are extremely popular by making up to such tremendous levels, ReactJS is a bit more popular than others. 

Syntax

The syntax is another crucial factor to consider before using one out of three.

AngularJS

Angular apps use TypeScript. They compile with TypeScript code into JavaScript code compatible with the browser. 

ReactJS

ReactJS uses JSX, and this JSX gets compiled into regular JavaScript code when you develop your project. You can use JavaScript functions to create components with ReactJS. ReactJS is so preferred for easiness and simplicity it provides that your decision to hire React.JS developers would prove to be fruitful. 

VueJS

VueJS makes use of an HTML-based template syntax, which helps in declaratively binding the rendered DOM to the VueJS instance’s data. 

Performance Standards

All three, including AngularJS, ReactJS, and VueJS, are incredible in terms of performance. You can run various tests on each one to determine its performance. The results are mostly all relative, as each one is pretty fast.

However, you must know that these tests, at times, can be a bit tricky. One may perform better than the others at a particular moment or in a specific situation. In contrast, the other one shows better performance in an altogether different scenario that is not considered in the benchmark study. 

Still sharing our opinion, Angular, because of large bundle size, is a bit slower at the startup in comparison to ReactJS and Vuejs. It, however, performs well with large apps. 

All in all, everyone – AngularJS, ReactJS, and VueJS, have a good runtime performance.

Wrapping Up

Just like every programming language, these frameworks and libraries, too, have their own list of pros and cons. 

Deciding which JavaScript framework or library to use along with choosing to hire Angular Developers, ReactJS programmers, or VueJS coders, you need to focus on your resources and the comparisons mentioned above. 

Once decided which one is the best for your project, you can further invest in your goals’ success!