AngularJS framework and the NodeJS tool are two such aspects of web development that are dominating the software development world. First of all, it is essential to understand what AngularJS and NodeJS are so that you can see how they are different from each other when a comparison is drawn between the two.
AngularJS is an open-source structural framework that plays a major role in the front-end development of web apps based on JavaScript and HTML template language. It is a full-featured JavaScript framework that helps develop dynamic, single-page web apps. It also offers support for MVC (Model-View-Controller) framework.
NodeJS, on the other hand, is an open-source, cross-platform, runtime environment for JavaScript applications so that it can function outside the browser. It plays a significant role in the back-end for web application development with the use of JavaScript.
So, now that we have discussed the basics of both NodeJS and AngularJS, let us further see what are the key differences between AngularJS and NodeJS below.
Comparison between AngularJS and NodeJS
Major differences between AngularJS and NodeJS are discussed below.
Difference in architecture
AngularJS: AngularJS is based on the MVW (Model-View-Whatever) architecture that is dynamic and facilitates combination with other models & patterns like Model-View-Controller or Model-View-View Model.
NodeJS: NodeJS is based on Chrome’s V8 engine for server-side development of applications using JavaScript. NodeJS utilizes an asynchronous, event-driven, non-blocking I/O model. The benefit of this model is that it is lightweight, offers advanced features, and is efficient in designing data-intensive real-time apps capable of functioning on cross-platform devices.
Comparison of features and programming paradigms
AngularJS: Angular supports functional, object-oriented, event-driven programming paradigms.
Here are the key features of Angular:
- MVW (Model-View-Whatever) architecture – The MVW architecture facilitates the modulation of DOM to update data and behaviour.
- MVC (Model-View-Controller) framework – MVC helps in building client-side web apps. It offers convenience for developers as they don’t have to write additional codes to combine all elements.
- POJO (Plain-Old-JavaScript-Objects) model – The POJO model is self-reliant and helps organize objects and logic strategically.
- Ease-of-use – Angular offers multiple useful features like filters, directives, and automatic data bindings. The best part about using AngularJS is that it lets Angular JS developers decouple DOM manipulation from any application logic.
NodeJS: It supports functional, object-oriented, concurrency-oriented, event-driven, and sub/pub programming paradigms.
Below are the key features of NodeJS:
- Scalable – NodeJS supports applications to achieve scalability both horizontally and vertically.
- Open-source – Being open-source, NodeJS is accessible to every developer.
- Performance-driven – NodeJS lets programmers perform non-blocking operations, thereby improving the performance of web-based tools.
- Server development – Built-in APIs of NodeJs enables developers to make various types of servers such as DNS server, HTTP server, TCP server, etc.
- Unit Testing – Unit testing is made possible with Jasmine that allows developers to test written codes easily.
Comparison of uses
AngularJS: AngularJS can help manipulate DOM, manage the state of models, and facilitates integration with other UI tools. It also helps developers create dynamic web pages in a short span. Besides this, it allows developers to customize HTML codes. It also helps in implementing MVC by dividing the app into various MVC components.
NodeJS: NodeJs is a single-threaded model with an event mechanism. Thus, it supports scalability and also helps to execute codes swiftly. With NodeJS, problems of buffering can be overcome easily. It serves the web and also facilitates communication between databases, middleware, and WebSockets.
Coding language difference
AngularJS: AngularJs is framed in JavaScript entirely. Besides this, it also uses the HTML language for templates including using extended HTML terminology. It even permits the use of HTML’s syntax to express the app components.
NodeJS: NodeJS is written in C, C++, and JavaScript.
Installation requirement
AngularJS: AngularJS typically doesn’t require installation but the AngularJS file has to be added so that it can be used in the applications. Developers can directly embed the AngularJs framework in the code.
NodeJS: NodeJS needs to be installed on the system to create the development environment because it mainly serves as the runtime environment for JavaScript apps.
Framework comparison
AngularJS: AngularJS is itself a web app framework.
NodeJS: NodeJS creates a runtime environment for JS applications to run outside the browser and has many frameworks built by developers for NodeJS like Express.js, Sails.js, etc.
Project suitability & application comparison
AngularJS: AngularJS can support extensively interactive & active web projects as it uses a declarative approach in app development which overall simplifies the process of development. Developers can simply define what they want to do instead of depending on the program flow.
It can be used for the development of real-time applications such as chat apps. AngularJS plays the most significant role in the development of single-page client-side web applications.
NodeJS: NodeJs is perfect for small-scale projects and can be used to build apps that need faster deployment and scalability. It is also suitable for designing real-time collaborative drawing/editing tools such as Google Docs.
Difference in data support
AngularJS: With Angular, two-way data binding is possible. This helps to retain the data between a web application model and also enables automatic view synchronization. But Angular does not support writing database queries.
NodeJS: NodeJS can help generate database queries. This, in turn, is considered helpful for developers because they don’t have to make an effort to memorize and remember the syntax differences when working with NodeJs and NoSQL databases.
With NodeJS, developers can even write database queries in non-relational databases as well such as MongoDB and CouchDB.
Conclusion
AngularJS and NodeJS play significant roles in the development of web apps and websites with JavaScript. However, they are quite different from each other architecture-wise and also in the way they function.
Both of them are popular worldwide because they offer certain advantages and high performances. AngularJS is more suited for single-page client-side web app development whereas NodeJS is more suitable for server-side web app development. You can always choose to go with NodeJS or AngularJS as per your project requirements.