JavaScript is developing at an amazing pace, every now and then new updates are added to the libraries of this programming language. New versions of Angular, React or fast-developing Vue are being released. The first one is the most popular JavaScript programming framework, however competition is developing at an increasing pace, which brings benefits to all users in the form of a higher level. A recently published report revealed an increasing interest in Vue and React.

The comparison of Angular – React – Vue is a difficult topic discussed more than once in the world of programmers. You have to take into account all statistics, fuctions, trends, downloads and stars on Github. You also need to remember whatneeds to be done. When choosing the technology for our project, we must remember about such factors as: budget, time, size of application, end users, project goals and available resources.

A short history of all projects

Angular is known as a JavaScript framework based on TypeScript supported and developed by Google. This is an extremely popular structure for the front-end of this era. At the beginning Angular was supposed to be a new version of the popular AngularJS framework, but it was announced as a separate entity in 2014, and the first version was released on April 30, 2015 and the final version in May 2016. It is widely distributed among developers around the world and used by giant organizations such as Google, Forbes, WhatsApp, Instagram, healthcare.gov and many Fortune 500 companies.

React is a JavaScript library for building user interface components for web applications. It was created by Jordan Walke from Facebook and is developed by this company. The first edition came out in March 2013. Since then, many leading technology brands have been using React in their programming environment. In addition to Facebook, these are: Uber, Netflix, Twitter, Udemy, Paypal, Reddit, Tumblr, Walmart and many more. React Native, another popular venture from Facebook, is used to build native mobile applications using JavaScript and React. Many well-known companies have switched to application programming in React due to their unique features.

Coming to the last participant in the comparison, that is Vue – a project created by Evan You, who was a Google employee working on Angular. Vue is an open-source library for building user interfaces and single-page applications created in 2014.

Popularity and marketing trends

According to data from last year provided by StackOverflow, the most commonly used programming language is JavaScript being used by over 80% of respondents. In this React and Angular have almost the same level of use factor (user ratio) in the category of popular front-end frameworks. Vue is  combatant in this fight so far, however, the number of downloads since 2017 is continuously on the rise.

Community suport and development

Because React is supported by Facebook, and Angular by Google, there is no doubt about the development of both frameworks. In both updates and editions are published often. Updates are not a problem, according to the developers. For React and Angular, every six months there will be one major update. React is more flexible than Angular, because Angular is a complete structure, and React is a set of independent, faster and evolving libraries, but this comes at a price that you have to keep an eye on every small module that is no longer supported or maintained.

As for Vue, StackOverflow has 18,000 questions marked #vue. Nearly 10,000 packages are available for Vue. The Vue repository in GitHub has already outstripped React.

Thanks to the ideal documentation, most of the answers to problems in the development of the Vue can be found in it right away, but also the answers of the community are more even.

What is the easiest way to learn

In some operating methods, the Vue is much easier than React or Angular.

Many companies are switching to Vue because it is easier to work with Development in Angular or React requires a good command of JavaScript and you have to make many decisions regarding external libraries.

Not only coding, debugging and testing can be a serious problem, if your application is large and requires a lot of code, Vue allows you to build applications in the old-fashioned form of JavaScript.

Angular provides a fairly clear and precise error message that helps developers solve problems.

What is the access to programmers?

It is known that it is easier to find  someone righting in HTML than a  JavaScript programmer. React includes more JavaScript scripts and sometimes this is the reason why people are focused on Angular or Vue. Angular is probably the most available solution in this case. The reason it is easier to find Angular programmers is because it has an established community with many projects, updates, resources. This is why it probably has the most sustainable future.

However, when it comes to the future, in the latest surveys, 17% of respondents voted that they feel good using Vue. However, in reality, twice as many programmers are interested in learning Vue, compared to React, so the market for Vue developers will probably grow faster than React in the coming future.

Pros and cons

Angular is great for creating highly interactive web applications. It provides programmers with almost everything you can expect to after installation. Everything is set from routing to support HTTP requests. The CLI interface eliminates the need to know many low-level details for simple applications. Installation conventions and predefined implementation methodologies are also an advantage. Plus, you can count the big community and code belonging to Google.

The learning curve is definitely a drawback, as is the fact that Angular is a bit complex. It requires learning Typescript and more programming knowledge.

React is the most popular JavaScript library with the largest community and ecosystem. In React, everything is pure JavaScript. All components express their interface in rendering functions using JSX (a declarative syntax similar to XML that works in JavaScript) to combine HTML structures with logic. It focuses on rendering views, but still allows you to scale projects by adding additional packages. High flexibility, scalability and fast rendering with Virtual DOM are certainly an advantage of React. In addition, the big advantage is the possibility of using both Internet and native applications (React Native). The code is also maintained by a large corporation, Facebook, which gives stability.

The disadvantage is that it requires learning JSX and also that writing components is not as easy as pure HTML and JS. Too flexible structure can also be seen as a hindrance.

Vue is one of the fastest growing libraries. High rendering speed, efficient component handling and code simplicity are some of its main strengths. Like React, Vue is designed from scratch so that it can be gradually adapted, which means that the core library focuses only on the view layer, but still allows scaling of projects by adding additional packages. What distinguishes Vue is its simplicity.

The problem may be a too flexible structure, as in the case of React. In addition, it is owned by one person its founder Evan You, which does not give a sense of security, but the big players like Alibaba are already starting to use Vue, so maybe the situation will change.

What are the differences between Angular, Vue and React?

Angular is a framework that provides a good start to creating applications with full configuration. You do not need to look at libraries, routing solutions and structure. You can simply start building. React and Vue, on the other hand, are more flexible and universal than Angular.

Thanks to React, you can do a lot of integration, because you can pair, exchange and integrate libraries with other great tools. React has the flexibility to offer seamless integration, but that leads to opportunities for bad decisions.

Vue is the cleanest compared to these three frameworks. Perfect balance of internal dependencies helps  to maintain code efficiency. This is a very simple and easy-to-use JavaScript framework that aims to simplify the creation of websites.

What then should you choose?

Everything depends on what we want to focus on the most.

Choose Angular if you want to code in TypeScript or use object-oriented programming.

If you like flexibility more than other functions, use React. And if you’re a JavaScript fan, React wins again, because it entirely depends on JavaScript.

When to use Vue? If you want to use a clean code or if you want to share doubts in your application. Vue provides the simplest learning curve and is an ideal option for beginners. It is also good choice  for a small team and a small project.

If your application seems large and has a significant expansion plan into the future, select React or Angular. When creating cross-platform applications, React Native is the perfect choice because it provides modern features and you can easily find resources. Angular, on the other hand, reqires a solid knowledge of JavaScript to create large-scale applications.

All three frameworks are able to provide the best websites or PWA (Progressive Web Apps). Ultimately, it all depends on one’s personal taste and programming style.