Ask HN: Using AngularJS 1.x in production?

4 points by 64bitbrain 10 years ago | 13 comments

Hello HN,

I am planning to re-write my web app in AngularJS 1.x. Currently I am using jQuery and it had worked fine so far. What are the benefits of using AngularJS in production over jQuery? Are you using it? Do you see a significant improvement in performance, etc..?

flignats 10 years ago |

I use it in an enterprise production application.

Angular includes a jquery lite library and can be used within your angular app. It's has a learning curve, but once you understand the fundamentals of Angularjs the benefits become pretty clear.

Some common jquery practices are made really easy with Angular (hiding/showing content, animations, applying styles conditionally). Plus, as a primarily front end developer it has expanded my development abilities (can create full stack applications, mobile apps more easily, ect).

And yeah, maintainability of your code should be easier with AngularJS.

64bitbrain 10 years ago | |

Precisely! I have been going to through the documentation and it amazes me every time I come across a directive. You are absolutely right, maintainability of code will be good enough for me to start migrating my app.

flignats 10 years ago | | |

You can grab a uDemy course on Angular for ~$15 (40% off sale going on today, I believe). The courses are an easy way to jump into Angular and build simple applications from day 1. It will introduce you to the fundamentals of AngularJS and can replicate many o fthe use cases of jquery.

humbleMouse 10 years ago |

Angularjs and JQuery are two different libraries designed to solve different problems. Angular is designed to make data persistence very simple by mirroring your data clientside. JQuery is a tool that abstracts lots of common javascript tasks.

I think you should do some more googling and reading up about Angularjs. This is an apples to oranges type of comparison.

64bitbrain 10 years ago | |

Thanks. Yes, I did read few things about Angularjs, mostly the bi-directional binding. Which is kool btw. I wanted to know if someone here is using AngularJS and what are their experiences.

karmajunkie 10 years ago |

I've shipped a few angular apps, and for my money I'd bet on React these days. If you do end up going the angular route, i'd probably think long and hard about starting with 1.x instead of 2.

64bitbrain 10 years ago | |

> If you do end up going the angular route, i'd probably think long and hard about starting with 1.x instead of 2.

Thanks for bringing that up. This was next on my list. 1.x or 2?! I feel that angular 2 is gaining more attention and probably better(I haven't read much), I would stick to angular 1.x.

alistproducer2 10 years ago |

Maintainability would be the biggest benefit. The first question I would ask is why do u feel ur existing design is no longer suitable?

64bitbrain 10 years ago | |

Good point. I feel that my jQuery code is getting bloated, when I add more features to a page. Though, I am still a beginner when it comes too angularjs, but I find using controller and services would clean up code by a huge margin.

alistproducer2 10 years ago | | |

If your code base is still actively being enhanced or changed, then, yes, Angular is a better design than jQuery. jQuery locks you into the DOM structure, which makes changing the UI or adding features progressively more expensive as the app grows. Angular pretty much solves this problem by decoupling the UI from the code governing the functionality.

Edit: I can't help but to shameless plug my AngularJS-like frame work, TemplarJS. It does most of the same things but I designed it to have a much flatter learning curve. I wouldn't recommend it for production as it is still a work-in-progress but take a look at it if you get the time. https://github.com/ShamariFeaster/Templar

Examples: http://templar.bigfeastsoftware.com