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Software engineer explains: Angular
What is Angular and what is it used for?
"Angular is a JavaScript-based framework that provides the developer with predefined building blocks and concepts to build single-page client applications. Anything that can interpret JavaScript is a potential client: desktop, laptop, tablet, mobile, etc. Using a framework like Angular enables you to focus on features instead of tooling. This is also true for React, Vue, etc."
Don’t forget to have fun and build something you enjoy! Whether it’s with Angular or any other technology.
Why did Sofico decide on Angular (and not Vue for example)?
"Before diving into the why you must consider that the landscape a few years ago was different than it is today. 4 years ago, Vue was different than it is today. The same goes for React and Angular. The arguments from then are not necessarily as strong today."
"The main reason we chose Angular over any other framework/library is that Angular is opinionated. This means that certain decisions about technology and architecture had been chosen for us. You need to understand that pure single-page client applications were new to Sofico. Having a framework that already made a few decisions for us meant we had something to hold on to and made it easier to set up our first foundations more quickly and robustly."
Framework
"This was not the only reason we chose Angular. The fact that Angular is a framework and not a library means that there is much more out-of-box functionality and patterns available: routing, fetching data, reactive programming, tooling, TypeScript, dependency injection, server-side rendering, PWA, etc."
We build (responsive) web applications using Angular for both our product offerings as for internal tooling.
"When you want to have all of this in React or Vue there is more manual work and/or third-party libraries involved. As both are less of a framework and more of a library. All of the above can be seen as a drawback as well. Either way, you can’t go wrong choosing going one or the other. If you stick to best practices and concepts."
How is it used at Sofico?
"We build (responsive) web applications using Angular for both our product offerings as for internal tooling."
What does the (international) Angular community look like?
"The community is alive and kicking. If you follow prominent people on Twitter regarding frontend technologies you see daily new blog posts, videos, tips & tricks, etc. The people I can recommend following are (in no specific order): Manfred Steyer, Sarah Drasner, Tim Deschryver, Todd Motto, Ben Lesh, Doug Parker, Minko Gechev, etc. Each and one of them share interesting topics and opinions about either Angular and more."
How do you keep up with developments and where is the standardization of Angular happening?
"Every 6 months there is a new major Angular release. We don’t strive to be early adopters when a new major release is available. We do wait a few weeks before upgrading. The goal is always to follow the pace of those releases so we can always make use of the latest and greatest. It’s a challenge, that’s for sure."
"Regular releases make sure we keep focus on what happens within the community. Often, we also share blogs posts, experiences, best practices within our very own Angular community at Sofico. This helps to keep each other’s knowledge as up-to-date as possible."
"If you want to increase your knowledge about Angular architecture or just standalone concepts. I can recommend https://blog.strongbrew.io/ and https://indepth.dev/. If you like watching videos (Firebase), I can recommend https://fireship.io/. They have tons of videos that are interesting to learn from. If you are active on Twitter, you can also follow them (@fireship_dev)."
Ruben: "When it comes to standards and best practices, we are steered in a direction by the Angular framework. You want to work with the framework and not against it. This is however limited, most of the standards and best practices that we follow have been introduced throughout the years of building our products. These we gathered by gaining experience and knowledge of the framework."
"However, a lot of best practices that apply to one technology are true for another as well. This is no different for Angular. As Sofico, in essence, builds software products we can leverage that experience as well."
We can proudly say that we sponsor NG-BE for the second time. If you visit the conference don’t hesitate to say hi to one of us ;).
"Another way of keeping up with the developments is visiting conferences like NG-BE (Ghent, Belgium). We can proudly say that we sponsor NG-BE for the second time. If you visit the conference don’t hesitate to say hi to one of us ;)."
Don’t try or understand everything at once because that’s what makes it hard.
Ruben, some tips and tricks?
"For those who want to get started with Angular make sure you don’t get overwhelmed. You often hear that React and Vue have a lower learning curve. Which is true, but that is mostly since Angular has more built-in features from the start. Don’t try or understand everything at once because that’s what makes it hard. Focus on one or more topics and get the hang of it."
"Don’t forget to have fun and build something you enjoy! Whether it’s with Angular or any other technology."
More information on the Belgium's Angular Conference NG-BE (December 2 and 3, 2021).
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