When we develop any web application we require three main things:
- Front end
- Server
- Database
Now whenever you search on Google for something and see the results or when you open up a page on Facebook, or when you browse through products on Amazon’s website, then whatever you see is defined as front end. In the earlier times the developers used simple HTML to design these pages, but after JavaScript and CSS were introduced, things changed drastically. JavaScript helped the developers to add a lot of behavior to the pages, and this basically included adding pop-ups, animations, client side input validation etc.
As more development happened, libraries were developed for JavaScript out of which jQuery was the most famous one. Developers found out that jQuery could do a lot of work using less code as it was built over JavaScript. Further, AngularJS which is also a JavaScript framework was developed and it is quite popular nowadays as a front end development tool. AngularJS can do a lot of work using less code and in lesser time and is therefore very popular as a front end development tool.
Now as already stated above – the second part which is required to develop a web application is the server. Server manages a lot of your tasks, keeps your website up and running and is present anywhere in the world. But what are the tasks that you work on the server side?
The answer to this question is – fetching data from the database, processing it to the required output and then sending the processed data to the client’s side (end user). Now node.js is a platform based on JavaScript that is used to perform server side tasks. So whatever you do on the server side, you do it in node.js. Now when the processed data is sent over to the client side, it is the task of the client’s side framework to display the output to the end user. And this is what AngularJS does.
So even though AngularJS and node.js both use JavaScript syntax, there is a lot of difference in between them. But before we jump on to the other differences between AngularJS and node.js let us first understand both individually and discuss their advantages.
Understanding AngularJS
- AngularJS is an open source web application framework
- It is maintained by Google.
- It helps you add dynamic views in your web application.
- It works as a tool set that interacts with the HTML.
- Back end platforms like node.js serve the HTML
Advantages of AngularJS
- It is very easy to use.
- It is great for single page applications.
- It uses less code because of its features such as directives, filters and automatic data binding. Thus the developers need not write hundreds of lines of codes for simple features. This makes the code very manageable.
- It supports cross browser compatibility.
- AngularJS has many responsive modules that can be made use of while developing the mobile site.
- It works on MVC architecture which makes it highly manageable.
- Its unit testing is quite easy.
- It integrates seamlessly with other UI tools.
Understanding Node.js
- js is a platform built on Google Chrome‘s JavaScript runtime.
- It helps you build scalable network applications.
- It offers efficiency for data intensive real-time applications that run across distributed devices.
- It functions with other front end toolsets such as node.js.
Just like AngularJS it is also based on the MVC architecture.
Advantages of Node.js
- It provides rapid development where applications need to undergo frequent changes.
- Ideal for applications where page load-time matters.
- It communicates with databases, web-sockets, middle-wares etc.
Now as we have a clear understanding of AngularJS and node.js, let us highlight a few main differences in between them –
Node.js |
AngularJS |
|
It is a cross-platform run time system for applications written in JavaScript. | AngularJS is an open source web application development framework, developed by Google. |
| You have to install node.js on your system first in order to use it for web application development. | You have to add the AngularJS file just like any other JavaScript file to use it in applications. It needn’t be installed separately. |
| It supports non-blocking input output and follows an event driven architecture. It is therefore used to create real-time chat applications. | It is entirely written in JavaScript and is used to create single page client side applications. |
| It is written in C, C++ and JavaScript languages. | It is written entirely in JavaScript but is very different from other JavaScript frameworks like jQuery. |
| It has a lot of frameworks such as Express.js, Partial.js etc. |
It itself is a framework of JavaScript. |
Do you also want to develop a web application using front end development tools like AngularJS and platforms like node.js? If yes, then contact Queppelin today.
