A Comparative Study between the different Versions of Angular!

App development with Angular turns out to be super-productive as enhanced versions are being launched periodically to meet the demands of a progressive and competitive market. Consequently, app creators across the globe these days opt for Angular JS App Development, to transform their futuristic app idea into reality. Are you also thinking of leveraging this multifaceted framework? Well then, you must be well versed with the features of different Angular versions, to make the right choice as per your project requirement.

This article provides insights on Angular’s evolutionary journey and the functional offerings of different versions.

The Inception of Angular

AngularJS, the original version of Angular, was coined by Misko Hevery, to deal with the roadblocks posed by HTML. He combined the best available practices and libraries and tailored the framework to satisfy the requirement of all sorts of app development processes. This is how Angular JS App Development Services came into being in the year 2010.It has been updated multiple times since then, resulting in the emergence of new advanced Angular versions decked up with novel features, to keep pace with changing times.

Comparative Analysis of Angular versions

Angular underwent several rounds of enhancement within a short period and each version has something new to offer. AngularJS was the first one followed by Angular2, Angular4, Angular5, Angular6, Angular7, Angular8, Angular9, and Angular10.Let’s compare the features and functionalities of these versions.

Angular JS App versus Angular2

AngularJS or Angular1 is an open-sourced framework for developing web apps, written in JavaScript, and is meant for front-end development. It employs MVC architecture, i.e. a scope is used to interact with the view and this framework uses HTML in the form of a template. It is ideal for a SPA (single page application) creation. However, this version is not developer-friendly.

Angular2 was entirely rewritten from scratch using TypeScriptto improve the speed and performance. The new features are as follows:

• Angular2 is an MVC framework that is based on the component. The component has the code which comprises of data, view, and logic as one unit. Each of these component classes is completely reusable. NgModule is a package consisting of directives, pipes, and related components.
• Two types of Directives are used. Attributive directives help in changing the behavior and look of the DOM components, whereas structural directives modify the DOM layout.
• It supports mobile apps which is absent in AngularJS.
• Communication of components in AngularJS is transparent, faster, and smoother in comparison to Angular2.

Angular4

Angular4, the updated version of Angular2 is faster, smoother, and ensures a better interaction with users. The add-ons are:

• It supports the higher versions of TypeScript that enable type checking and employment of object-oriented functionalities.
• The structural directives of ngFor and ngif are upgraded.
• It allows the usage of the design syntax, ‘if’ or ‘else’ for template creation.
• The size of the code generated from the AOT compiler has been reduced.
• Animation separated and moved to package @angular/animations.

Angular 5

Angular5 introduces a bundle of advanced features which prove highly beneficial for Angular developers. They are:

• The employment of a build optimizer identifies and removes the code from the application that is not necessary.
• Transferring data between front-end and back-end becomes easy, owing to the support of a built-in DOM and Universal TransferState API.
• Improved decorator support as Angular5 uses lambda expressions in place of using naming functions.
• Preserving white spaces helps in organizing the code and optimizing it for various browsers.

Angular6

The major alterations brought about by Angular6 are:

• Improved decorator and the functionality detecting error messages, added support for native components, and addition of test comments.
• Availability of CDK stables for the creation of UI elements and closure compilers for generating small bundles.

Angular7

This version has brought about disruptive changes as compared to other versions. The top add-ons are given below.

• It offers the novel Angular Compatibility Compiler which enables AOT (ahead-of-time) compilation and therefore reduces the size of bundles considerably.
• Enhancements in the CLI (command-line-interface), drag-drop function, a faster virtual scrolling, downloadable consoles, and capacity to recuperate from deformed URL s prove advantageous.
• DoBootstrap, a new interface, and ngDoBootstrap, a life-cycle hook simplifies the bootstrapping of components.

Angular8

A smart set of tools were introduced in Angular8. They are:

• Lazy loading reduces the size of voluminous files and Differential loading that enhances performance.
• Ivy rendering Engine renders smaller sized bundles, Web Workers boost speed and the builder APIs facilitate customization of CLI and command modification.
• Backward compatibility of the Angular router and support for firebase are the other smart features.

Angular9

• Angular9 has ushered in revolutionary changes that perfectly befit modern-day app development. Have a look at them!
• The default compiler is now Ivy. This helps in reducing the size of files, and bug detection.
• Updates regarding the API extractor and dependable ng-updates are some of the key endorsements.
• Component harness facilitates testing.
• The Phantom Template variables help in detecting compiler errors.

Angular10

The latest version, Angular10, focuses on enhancing the environment and some ingenious tools. Let’s explore!

• Deprecations of the inclusions such as FESM5 or ESM5 bundles, TypeScript 3.6, 3.7, etc. has improved the install time for Angular libraries and packages.
• The compiler interface wraps the ngtsc compiler.
• The settings for the creation of new workspaces are stricter with Angular10. This setting enhances maintainability in the project.
• The new default configuration of the browser, Angular Service Workers, warnings regarding common JS imports, and using a message ID to merge translation documents are the other important updates.
• Size of the entry points, computation of base paths, caching of dependency has helped in enhancing the performance further.

Concluding Words

All these versions of Angular offer smart features and functionalities that fuels up the development process. A clear understanding of the difference between these versions will help you to select the one that best suits your project needs.

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