AngularJS vs NodeJS: Which Is Better For My Business and Why?

When and Why Use AngularJS?

AngularJS is an open-source framework for developing the front-end of applications and it is completely based on JavaScript. So, it is used for projects that are more focused on the client-side of things.

For example, if you want to create a beautiful user interface for your user to get their inputs – you can use AngularJS. The framework was developed and is maintained by Google and is free-to-use. Here is when it is best to use AngularJS for your project:

AngularJS provides a dynamic and engaging web experience without the integration of any extra plugins or third-party tools. It’s mainly considered as the best framework to design the front-end of the web apps that results in simplified development, programming, and support.

HTML is the basic template language utilized in AngularJS and most of the developers use it to develop single-page web applications that are optimized for both – mobile and desktop devices.

When and Why Use NodeJS?

NodeJS is basically a run-time environment that helps run JavaScript programs outside of the browser. It’s also an open-source technology, but it is more focused on the server-side of things.

For example, if you want to create a server-side app that will contain the back-end  – you can use NodeJS for its development. Here is when it is best to use NodeJS for your project:

Also, if your project requires the development of both – you can use these JavaScript Frameworks (Angular and Node) together in your project. 

NodeJS is mainly used in networking applications, as there are a number of things that need to happen off-camera in these apps. NodeJS is a great solution for the applications that require scalability and tends to streamline the whole development process, making it easy for those with less experience. It’s mainly viewed as a more back-end thing of web development.

Now that we know what these frameworks are and how you can use them in your projects – let us see in detail how they both are different from each other.

Not Just Angular and Node, the JavaScript world is having numerous amazing web development frameworks and libraries to choose for your business solution. One out of these incredibly amazing frameworks is “Vue.JS” which is also called as the rising superstar of JavaScript family. You can know all about it in our blog A Guide to Vue.JS.

AngularJS vs NodeJS: Let’s Find Out The Difference

While now we have a little idea of which out of these two amazing javascript framework our project requires and before we delve deeper into the technical terms of AngularJS vs NodeJS – let us glance through the basics of Angular and Node with the help of the below table:

Now, is the time to compare these to find the answer to the debate “AngularJS Vs NodeJS: Which Is Better”?. So, let’s get started:

1. AngularJS Vs NodeJS: Architecture and Programming Languages

At a very basic level, the core architectures of NodeJS and AngularJS are very different.

AngularJS was launched by Google as a web app development framework and it is written entirely in JavaScript. It even follows the syntax of JavaScript. Furthermore, Google created it as an open-source framework to make web apps beautiful and dynamic – so that they can run easily without performance issues across mobile devices as well as desktop.

On the other hand, NodeJS was created as a cross-platform runtime environment dependent on Google’s V8 JS engine. It was written in various programming languages like JavaScript, C, and C++. This permits NodeJS to be used for server-side applications to make these scalable and run smoothly. NodeJS is mostly used for web applications like web servers, however, can be applied to mobile applications relying upon the requirements.  

Also Read: React vs Angular vs Ember vs Vue: Which Is the Best JavaScript Framework?

2. AngularJS Vs NodeJS: Framework and Usage

As mentioned above, AngularJS is a web framework. You can use this framework to automate general development tasks to save your development time and avoid potential complications while working on developing a variety of apps like web apps, web services, websites, and web app frameworks.

On the other hand, the developers can’t utilize NodeJS as a web framework. However, they have an option to choose from a number of NodeJS based frameworks like Meteor.js, Socket.io, and Express.js. 

3. AngularJS Vs NodeJS: Installation

The developers can write the code of the NodeJS app in JavaScript. However, the applications need to run inside the runtime environment on different platforms – Linux, Windows, and macOS. Hence, the app developers must install NodeJS on their systems while making the development environment. 

The developers are not required to install AngularJS on their systems. They can just insert the AngularJS files in the code base simply like other JavaScript files. 

4. AngularJS Vs NodeJS: Scope and Applications

AngularJS – Beautiful UIs, Efficient Development Process, and Happy Users

AngularJS is based on MVC architecture and provides a simplified way to develop web apps that result in smooth and dynamic end results.

• It is extremely user-friendly and has many elements that developers can use to cut complexity. 
• It includes plain old JS objects to make things even smoother – easy planning and an opportunity to play around various elements to achieve the desired look and feel. 
• Using it, you can also integrate custom HTML into any web app to make the UX perfectly tailored for the project.

The framework AngularJS is known for the development of dynamic and single page web apps because it has powerful features like deep linking, routing, data binding, scope, filters, templates, directives, and dependency injections.

Also Read: Why Node JS Is the Best Platform for App Development?

NodeJS – Robust Back-Ends, Top-Notch Performance, and Fast Development

As mentioned above, NodeJS is a server-side framework that provides a number of powerful features to build networking and server-side apps. You can use NodeJS to its fullest while building single-page or video-streaming sites or where real-time collaboration is required – like in chat apps.

• You can also use NodeJS for both – backend and frontend development as it allows the use of the same JavaScript.
• It let developers use single-threaded event mechanisms and asynchronous APIs to improve code execution speed.
• You can use it to make your web app deliver data in chunks without buffering for high performance.
• It is highly scalable for performance enhancement – horizontally as well as vertically.

All in all, we can say that NodeJS provides better performance because of its V8 engine that makes everything fast. It is completely free-to-use and because of the amazing features it provides – it is an ideal choice of companies for web development today.

5. Example of Apps Developed

Netflix – a popular video streaming application used all over the world is a classic example of Angular’s usage. The tech team behind Netflix used AngularJS as a front-end development tool and its backend needs were satisfied by Flask and Python. The app today is very successful and boats millions of subscribers from all over the world. 

Other than Netflix, apps like Upwork, YouTube, and Gmail also used Angular to improve their app’s performance.  

Uber – a ride-hailing application – was one of the first three companies that used Node.js in full production. They required an amazingly fast and adaptable cross-platform solution that could manage a gigantic amount of requests and notifications. They picked NodeJS for filling the need and effectively used it in their applications. Just like Netflix – Uber reported amazing results.

Along with Uber, apps like LinkedIn and eBay also got good results after using NodeJS in their applications.

Wrapping Up

To wrap it up, we will say that we have seen a number of differences between the two Javascript Frameworks above and now you must be having an idea of how they both are different from each other. Both of them are amazingly incredible in what they do respectively and the answer to “Which one you should choose between AngularJS vs NodeJS” depends completely on what your requirements are.

So, before selecting the one, clearly define what your business app will do, what are your goals, how your solution will work, and what kind of a product you’re looking for. After that, you will be easily able to decide which will be most beneficial for you. All the best!