Why You Should Migrate From AngularJS To Angular In 2021

AngularJS to Angular migration is becoming an important issue due to the nearing end of support of AngularJS in 2021. Businesses are getting concerned because of the approaching lack of upgrades and stirring into the direction of migrating to Angular. Although Google’s decision to discontinue support of AngularJS is not the only reason for us to shift to the new framework.

AngularJS is a JavaScript framework created in 2009 and launched in 2012 by Google. It has been developed by a Google employee in the pursuit of shortening the process of development as well as simplifying testing. Thanks to the newly developed framework, a long, complex code of 17,000 lines has been rewritten into 1,500 lines in only three weeks. This impressive result has inspired Google executives, and the new framework called AngularJS has been made available. 

But what happened to AngularJS, and why are we talking about migration from AngularJS to Angular? The demands continued to grow bigger, and the core developers improved everything that could improve and hit the wall. A new framework had to be created in order to fill the shoes of new requirements for application development.

What are the main differences between AngularJS and Angular?

Ease of use

AngularJS is far less reusable than its new version. Angular provides reusability of the elements due to its component-based architecture while facilitating high testability and easy maintenance. Although AngularJS is flexible, Angular is better structured, which goes back to its component-based architecture. It makes it more manageable and allows you to create large-scale applications.

Technology updates

As mentioned before, by the year 2021, Google will have stopped technical support and upgrades for AngularJS, which raises a huge concern for the businesses. This means that AngularJS migration to Angular is inevitable; however, the sooner your business makes this shift, the easier and more cost-efficient it is going to be. 

Technological updates are vital for your application as they ensure maximum stability for project progress. Angular team has decided to launch upgrades every six months, which guarantees the latest versions and the ultimate support. 

Speed

Firstly, Angular solves the problem of developing larger apps. It provides faster compilation, improves debugging, and facilitates flexibility. Secondly, Angular uses a more consistent language — TypeScript, that reduces runtime errors and provides code optimization, altogether leading to higher development velocity. Finally, while AngularJS relies on third-party tools, Angular uses Command Line Interface (CLI) that decreases application development duration.

Benefits of Migration from AngularJS to Angular

Mobile-oriented approach

Developed back in 2009, AngularJS does not support mobile devices. On the other hand, Angular allows you to create lightweight apps for mobile devices and browsers. Due to its component-based structure, Angular allows the so-called lazy scripting that uses particular modules only when needed as well as better organization that provides faster page loading and higher performance.

Easy to maintain

Angular has an architecture that is based on components or services, in other words — modules. These modules enable the organization of application functionalities by separating them into reusable pieces of data. Each piece is responsible for one feature and stays independent with its system and APIs. All of the above ensures easier maintenance where developers can swap one component with another without rewriting the entire code.

Avoid code errors

Unlike AngularJS, which is based on JavaScript, Angular uses TypeScript that has a type-checking feature. This means that developers can avoid compile-time errors since the mistakes become easily detectable. Moreover, TypeScript code can be edited directly in the browser, making debugging easier and detecting errors at an early stage of development.

Reduced costs

We have mentioned above that Angular reduces the overall development cycle as well as simplifies maintenance and debugging. Overall, it leads to cost savings along with smaller paychecks for developers since they will spend less time working on coding, testing, and so on. 

In addition to this, your business will cut bills on third-party tools like WebStorm or Brackets since Angular comes with an official Command Line Interface (CLI). Angular offers CLI that is optimized for its purpose; however, external tools like IDEs and UI kits are also available.

High performance

High performance derives from the module-based architecture of the Angular framework. By compartmentalizing chunks of data, developers can work on different pieces of code independently without facing the risk of creating an unsustainable code. Due to the organization that Angular brings, labor within the teams can be divided, thus accelerating the process of development. 

On top of that, Angular offers best practices on boosting performance, both network and runtime. For example, you can remove comments and whitespace as well as get rid of dead code with Uglify, provide bundling together with tree-shaking with Rollup, and use ngx-quicklink as a preloading strategy to download lazy-loaded modules. For more tips, see the Angular performance checklist on the GitHub page.

Which approaches you can choose

There are four paths that you can take in the pursuit of app migration from AngularJS to Angular. 

Rewrite

This approach is self-explanatory — your team rewrites the entire code. Especially for outdated applications, also known as legacy apps, rewriting might be an adequate solution. Starting from scratch, you can re-design and rethink your application and implement new features on the go.

The downside is obvious — rewriting the entire application doesn’t happen overnight, which means that your team will have to work on both applications simultaneously. Your developers will recreate the application using Angular and simultaneously support and upgrade the existing one for current users.  

Hybrid with ngUpgrade

ngUpgrade — a library offered by Angular — allows you to keep running both frameworks simultaneously. This technology facilitates a slow and smooth transition that can last years or be relatively quick, depending on your goals and priorities. Your development team chooses one route at a time and starts upgrading from the bottom up. ngUpgrade allows Angular and AngularJS to coexist and work together without disrupting the application. 

Angular Elements

Angular Elements is a new package in Angular that allows you to transform Angular components into custom elements natively understood by browsers. Angular Elements eliminate the necessity of ngUpgrade; however, they are useful only for very big and complex applications. 

Postscript

AngularJS is an outdated framework. Together with a number of benefits that Angular will bring, there is no choice but to take the step into migrating from AngularJS to Angular. There is no question of whether to migrate, rather than when and how. If you want your application to run better and faster and your features to be easy to implement, this shift is necessary.

Previously published at https://modlogix.com/blog/app-migration-from-angularjs-to-angular-what-you-should-know-before-moving/