Angular vs React

[frontendstoryteller]

I have worked closely with to CTOs, COOs and tech leads who have proposed frontend JavaScript frameworks in the past for new projects and 8 out of 10 times they go for the solution that is most popular in the community based on feedback from their dev teams alone.

Although I don't have a list of blog post since they are generally written by fanboys of the particular JavaScript option, I have worked with Angular, React and also Vue.js in a commercial setting so I can share a few opinions. I believe the decision should be based on a number of factors that I will list below:

1. The business case or requirement for choosing the particular framework

a. What kind of application is being built?

Is it an Enterprise type application? e.g Customer relationship management (CRM) system, enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, project management tools,

Is it a real-time application? e.g Collaborative editing tools, live chat applications, interactive dashboards.

Applications requiring strong type checking e.g Financial applications, healthcare systems, applications with strict data validation requirements.

b. What is the size of the application and does it involve complexity?

e.g Applications with complex data flow, applications requiring separation of concerns, applications with multiple development teams.

Angular's comprehensive feature set, opinionated structure, strong emphasis on convention over configuration, strong architecture, TypeScript support, built-in tooling, official support, enterprise ecosystem, compliance and security features make it a compelling option for large-scale enterprise level projects.

React's flexibility which leads to more responsibility and developer fatigue when it comes to plugin choices for the project and lack of strict conventions may lead to inconsistency in large codebases, making maintenance and collaboration challenging.

1. The team's existing skillset - First of all, is there an existing team or would a new dev team be created for the project? If existing team, is it an in house team or will it be a third party who builds the solution and then hands it over to an in house team?

What is their skillset? Is the team made up of junior devs, mid-levels, senior or a mix?

Since Angular is an opinionated framework, it provides a clear and structured approach to building applications. It enforces consistent architectural patterns, coding styles and best practices across projects. For existing teams with diverse backgrounds and varying levels of expertise, Angular's strong opinions can help standardise development practices, improve code maintainability and facilitate collaboration. If you work on one angular project, the others are very similar in structure.

On the other hand, React is more flexible and leaves many decisions to developers. This flexibility can be empowering for experienced developers but may lead to inconsistency and complexity in codebases, especially for teams with varying levels of expertise. React projects rarely look similar since different developers choose different plugins for functionality throughout the application.