NodeJS vs AngularJS: Which is The Best For Your Project?
Tags: node, angular, php, programming
Published: 2022-02-27 11:44:21

JavaScript has evolved beyond a scripting language for clients in recent years. It is now a powerful language for creating applications to help enterprises grow their business to reach more people.

Statista indicates that JavaScript is the top programming language used by developers, with almost 64.96 percent of the share. 

According to W3 Techs, the market share of:

- NodeJS is higher than the popularity and traffic of some well-known web servers like Microsoft-IIS, Cloudflare Server, and more.
- AngularJS has higher popularity and traffic in Javascript Libraries than Popper, jQuery, Bootstrap, and more.
- Source

Also, almost 43% of NodeJS developers use the framework to build enterprise applications, and nearly 18.50% of the businesses use AngularJS to create web applications. In fact, the top two industry leaders, Google and Youtube, use AngularJS for their websites. 

In this blog, we will know more about these two most popular JavaScripts – NodeJS vs AngularJS. We will discuss their key features, significant differences, and which one will suit your business application better—interested in finding out more about the two JavaScripts that are dominating the world of web applications?

Let’s start with Node.JS!

**What is NodeJS?**

NodeJS is a robust open-source framework to build cross-platform applications on Chrome’s V8 Javascript engine. With this framework, you can create highly scalable enterprise applications that are event-driven, asynchronous, and are compatible with mobile devices. 

In addition, NodeJS can help you build an array of applications such as video-streaming applications, web applications, real-time chat applications, and more. The applications built on NodeJS are designed to work with both large and small enterprises. Furthermore, NodeJS is free, making it cost-effective to create Java or PHP-based web applications. 

Following this section, we will discuss some of the core features of Node.JS. Then, let’s find out more!

**7 Key Features of NodeJS**

The following are some of NodeJS’ key features that can be helpful to you in developing applications that will fortify your business:


![Key Features of NodeJS](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/e3x4k9e2gm2pdc2c0ql4.jpg)

**7 Key Features of Node.JS**

**1. Cross-platform compatibility**

The challenge of building cross-platform desktop applications has been a nightmare for quite some time due to the stark differences between the most popular desktop operating systems.

Fortunately, modern tools and frameworks like NodeJS make cross-platform desktop development more accessible than ever. Cross-platform compatibility and support is the major strength of NodeJS. You can ensure that your enterprise applications run effectively on Windows, Linux, and OSX with a bit of effort.

**2. Enhanced Performance**

A NodeJS developer can use one single language for developing both front-end and back-end stacks. Moreover, it offers the convenience and powerful performance that programmers cannot switch between more than one coding language.

Also, NodeJS is a lightweight tool that facilitates the quick deployment and development of applications. It has a commendable data-processing ability and can process data when you are uploading it to your application. This results in the fast streaming of videos and data to your application. 

**3. Unit Testing**

Unit testing is carried out during the stage of NodeJS applications development to test even the smallest part of code used to develop the application. For this, there are several popular frameworks, including Mocha, Jest, Jasmine, and AVA. 

Because it takes into account even the tiniest part of the code, it is called unit testing. Thus, this automated unit testing assures that the final application is of top-notch quality and bug-free. 

**4. Scalability**

NodeJS makes it easier to build data-centric and real-time apps thanks to its non-blocking I/O and event-driven model. In addition, with NodeJS real-time collaboration tools, you can deploy data-intensive applications related to streaming or networking.  

With NodeJS, you can handle multiple requests from clients simultaneously and provide them with a suitable solution. Another critical feature that NodeJS provides to your enterprise application is presenting different application versions to your targeted audience.

**5. V8 Engine**

The V8 engine was a Javascript engine initially developed for Chrome but not anymore. Today it has become a top-rated server-side coding engine and is portable for other operating systems like Linux, MAC, Windows, and more.  

Despite being hosted in a browser, the Javascript engine is independent of it. Additionally, V8 has emerged as one of the best engines for translating JavaScript into machine code. V8 is written in C++ to enhance the performance of your applications and is helpful for servers.

**6. Open-source**

With NodeJS, you can speed up the process of developing an enterprise application by running code simultaneously on both the client and server sides. In addition, the NodeJS open-source framework will help you bridge the gap between front-end and back-end developers, making the process much more efficient. 

NodeJS is used by more than 49% of developers, according to StackOverflow.  With an open-source network like NodeJS in place, you can manage everything on your application, from coding to content.

**7. Advanced hosting ability**

The advanced hosting ability of NodeJS helps you upgrade your application’s performance, security, and reliability. The PaaS providers Heroku and Modulus deploy the NodeJS applications.  

Therefore, NodeJS reduces the number of servers necessary to run the application by 50%, which results in faster page loading times. In addition, NodeJS gives you ten times faster performance, backup facilities, and regular updates to make your applications better. 

We’ve already learned how NodeJS works. Now let’s discuss AngularJS! 

**What is AngularJS?**

Google developed the AngularJS framework to simplify the development and testing of applications by developers worldwide. AngularJS helps you in integrating HTML codes and other modules into the web application. In addition, the apps developed by AngularJS are easy to make and deploy. 

To build rich internet applications, AngularJS uses the MVC architecture.  The websites and applications created with HTML framework and other extensions in AngularJS make them dynamic and responsive. The applications developed by AngularJS are focused on improving performance, enriched with different features and functionalities.

Now that you are aware of AngularJS, let’s know more about its core features in our next section! 

**7 Key Features of AngularJS**

Here are a few critical features of AngularJS that can help you in developing applications and help you grow your business digitally:


![Key Features of AngularJS](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/ju8vkzgxfevqv8ukmbm9.jpg)


**1. Model View Controller (MVC) Framework**

Model View Controller is a software development framework for developing applications. The MVC helps you monitor and control the architecture in AngularJS to make your enterprise applications dynamic and versatile.

MVC will help you monitor the data, show a particular portion of the data to the user, and control the actions between model and viewer. With AngularJS, you can build MVC elements separately and then combine them. Thus, you don’t need to add any extra codes or plugins to combine all these attributes.    

**2. User interface with HTML**

In AngularJS, the user interface is built on HTML. This is a declarative language with a short syntax and is extremely easy to understand. In addition, the interface offered by AngularJS is streamlined, organized, and structured.

In some cases, developing, organizing, and reorganizing JavaScript Interfaces becomes very complex. Therefore, the HTML interface will help you regulate the implementations of your application and make it perform better. In addition, AngularJS handles all complex dependencies for you, so no need to guess how program flow or loading works; just specify what you want.

**3. POJO Model**

The POJO (Plain Old JavaScript) objects used in AngularJS are different from those used in other frameworks. POJO model makes it easy to write and understand codes. It also increases the usability of the program to develop more engaging applications. 

POJO makes your code far more readable and intuitive because you no longer need to write complex methods and functions to your code, have no dependencies on the framework, and refer to only one declarative statement. Instead, the AngularJS POJO model is purely focused on the logic of your business.

**4. Active community on Google**

The first thing you look for when you adopt a framework is community support. Well, this is not a problem for AngularJS. Why? Because Google maintains the community of AngularJS. In addition, AngularJS is released under the guidelines of MIT and can be easily downloaded through GitHub.

As a result, you can find answers to your questions in many forums if you have maintenance problems or get stuck somewhere. Furthermore, you can easily download the source in case you want to propose changes or improve something.

**5. Routing**

AngularJS uses routing to navigate from one page to another when the user wants to navigate multiple pages in the same application. An application that uses AngularJS routes can have different URLs for displaying other content.

By using the ngRoute module, you can navigate between different application pages without reloading the whole application. This method allows the user to feel as though they are interacting with a desktop application. A couple of examples of single-page applications are the Chrome app store and Twitter.

**6. Two-way binding**

The data binding method involves synchronizing data from the view to the model automatically. The HTML syntax in the data binding process displays views, and JavaScript variables display the model. With two-way binding, you can quickly build templates in AngularJS that bind these components to the models.

As a result, the bound model value automatically updates any HTML or view component value changes. Further, it makes the UI clean, simple, and more appealing. In addition, you can perform complex data manipulations and calculations efficiently.

**7. Speed and Performance**

If you want to achieve optimal speed and performance of your application, you must incorporate extra functionality to HTML. When you write Angular code, an optimized code is automatically generated that combines the advantages of handwritten code and the ease of framework use.

**AngularJS** is a universal framework; that is, your business application will be independent of HTML or CSS server to operate, which will enhance the productivity of your application. In addition, using code-splitting will make your applications load faster.

Now you are familiar with NodeJS and AngularJS and their features. First, however, let’s examine some of the most significant differences between the two most used Javascripts globally by developers. 

**7 Major Differences Between NodeJS and AngularJS**

Here is a list of key differences between NodeJS and AngularJS. This list of differences will clarify which Javascripts you must adopt to build well-suited web applications for your business. 


![Differences Between NodeJS and AngularJS](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/6a6w5wrhg1mekyjvg0px.jpg)

**NodeJS vs AngularJS: Which is Better For Your Project?**

Below are a few benefits you must know before choosing NodeJS and AngularJS. In addition, here is a sneak peek of some of the benefits you can avail of by choosing NodeJS for your web application.

**The Benefits of Using NodeJS in Your Next Project**

**Provides Quick Scalability for Modern Applications**

Each node in NodeJS has an “event” at its core. For instance, a customer purchases an in-app product, service, ads, and other offerings or sends support emails. No limit exists on the number of nodes you can add to your core programming functions. 

That means you can add versatility to your project and make applications that are highly scalable and responsive. With NodeJS, you can scale your application either way, which is one of the critical reasons for its popularity.

**Accelerates Speed and Performance for Real-time Applications**

The I/O operations of NodeJS accelerate and improve the performance of real-time applications. In addition, these input-output operations help the whole environment run more smoothly. 

One of the main reasons for this is that it is divided into sections. Moreover, NodeJS is powered by Google’s V8 Javascript engine that makes the performance of these applications more reliable. Finally, most of its apps are written and programmed in end-to-end Javascripts that are plug and play, making them faster and better.

**Offers Cost-effective Solutions with Fullstack JS**

NodeJS is a cost-effective alternative to other JavaScript-based servers as it is an open-source platform. In addition, the modular nature of NodeJS enables developers to build web applications more quickly. 

When you develop backend applications with NodeJS, you automatically get access to JavaScript tools and technologies. Consequently, developers and designers will be more efficient and productive, resulting in superior speed and performance of the applications.

To conclude, NodeJS is a fast, lightweight, efficient, data-intensive, real-time, and affordable application. 

**Provides Cross-functional team support**

With NodeJS, it is possible to create different teams to work on other aspects of the same application at a given time. Moreover, these cross-functional teams can simultaneously work on different application modules, like writing codes, testing quality, hosting the application, and maintenance. 

These teams have experts working in various domains of the applications and assure the quality of the project. To sum it up, NodeJS bridges the gap between the front-end and back-end developers to create assured quality, security, and interactive applications. 

**Optimizes an application’s time-to-market**

NodeJS can prove helpful with its event-driven capabilities and non-blocking I/O for applications where performance is critical, and scalability is vital. For example, using NodeJS, you can connect to internet-based applications in real-time such as forums, social media, stock exchange programs, and ads servers. 

NodeJS remains the technology of choice for real-time, data-intensive applications and IoT devices alike despite its performance and scalability. The advantages of NodeJS in real-time application development are event-based servers, data sync, scalable and fast.

**The Benefits of Using AngularJS in Your Next Project**

You can expect the following benefits from AngularJS are:

**Enhanced Design Architecture**

The declarative User Interface helps in enhancing the design architecture of web applications. For example, in AngularJS, the user interface is described through HTML. As HTML is a declarative language, it has fewer restrictions than JavaScript’s procedural capabilities. 

Also, HTML reorganization is less fragile than a JavaScript GUI, so it is less likely to break. In addition, the view can be written in HTML, so you can have more UI developers working on it.

**Makes code more reusable**

MVC inbuilt support, declarative user interface, plain old java objects(POJO) as your data models, directives, and open-source framework all point to not needing to write new codes. You can use the one that already exists. 

The two binding modules also show that you do not manually need to enter the data to view it; you can directly make it a part of your database while updating your applications. Additionally, another team can write the directives without causing any integration problems since they are separate from the software code.

**Improved Plug & Play Components**

Want to add existing components to your new web application? All you are required to copy and paste are the features you want to add to your new applications. It’s that simple! 

All aspects of that component will be automatically added to your application without further adieu. You no longer need to write codes or add third-party extensions to your applications. The plug-and-play features work seamlessly with AngularJS development.

**Faster application development**

The MVC design architecture and Dependency injection help in the faster deployment of an application. A web application can be divided into input, processing, and output using the AngularJS MVC module. The MVC model is divided into three parts, that are Model, Viewer, and Controller. 

A web or .net application uses these components to handle certain aspects. First, the controller receives the information from the user and sends it to the model to construct the information and send it to the viewer. Then, using the data from the controller, the viewer produces its final output. 

**Real-Time Testing**

The credit for deploying a successful real-time application should go to AngularJS modular functionality. The modules and directories of an Angular web application extend its features on all your mobile devices. 

AngularJS is a free and open-source framework that allows you to build widgets tailored to a particular device’s specific needs. In addition, in AngularJS, you can use a single test page that activates only one feature to see if it works. This beats traditional approaches where tests are created and tested one after another in real-time.

**Apps Built With NodeJS**

Many applications are based on NodeJS, which allows developers to work with a lightweight, fast, and modern approach to coding. The top 5 popular applications that are based on NodeJS are:

- Paypal (online payment service provider)
- Netflix (video streaming app)
- LinkedIn (professional networking social media platform)
- Uber (ride-hailing taxi app)
- GoDaddy (web hosting company)

**Examples of Where NodeJS Should Be Used**


![Apps Built With NodeJS](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/3v29ysll4lsy2e4p7v5b.jpg)

Check out the places where NodeJS does the wonders:

**CHAT Rooms**

For real-time chatbots and applications, NodeJS is like a real jackpot. It facilitates:

- Multi-user applications 
- Intensive data
- Heavy traffic
 
Further, NodeJS is compatible with most paradigms and permits executing push notifications and server-side event loops, essential in real-time apps. The system ensures a fluid user experience by responding to events, handling multiple connections simultaneously, and managing numerous events simultaneously.

**Complex SPAs (single-page app)**

With NodeJS, you can create everything from social networking platforms to email platforms to dynamic websites, as well as single-page websites. As a result of its asynchronous data flow quality and various features, NodeJS has proven to be particularly useful for building SPAs. 

**RTAs (real-time apps)**

NodeJS has made real-time applications possible, and the two-way communication which offers allows initiating communication between both the client and server-side. Further, it is now possible for companies to switch between workstations resulting in a higher level of mobility.

**Data streaming apps**

Using NodeJS for data streaming is ideal since it is swift to process data files. Another leverage which it offers to data streaming apps is it offers feather-light encoding and uploading. 

**Server-side web apps**

With the help of NodeJS clubbed with Express.js, it is now possible to build server-side classic web applications on the go. However, in building heavy server-side computation applications, NodeJS is not the best match as it is single-threaded.

**Apps Built With AngularJS**

Well known for user interface development, AngularJS acts as a robust framework that provides many features right out of the box. Below is the list of the top 5 most popular websites which are AngularJS driven:

- Gmail (an app with 1.5 billion active users)
- Forbes (created with Angular 5)
- Upwork (freelance marketplace)
- Wikiwand (software interface optimizing Wikipedia articles’ view)
- Lego (Danish toy manufacturer)

**Examples of Where AngularJS Should Be Used**


![Apps Built With AngularJS](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/2gjgbgdac5grlmp5tzcl.jpg)

The following types of website owners and industries prefer to make a website using Angular:

**Travel Application**

Transport apps like JetBlue and Delta Airways prefer using Angular for developing their websites because it offers faster page load speed and an excellent user experience. Thus, ticket booking, travel modifications, and checking availability are fast-paced due to Angular’s dynamic features. 

**Weather Application**

Websites like “Weather dot com” are built on Angular as they are known for offering real-time updates to the users, thus demanding faster speed and higher accuracy. And this is only possible owing to the versatile capabilities which Angular depicts. 

**User-Generated Content Portals**

User-generated content portals need a high degree of security and management. The AngularJS web applications consist of inner HTML and DomSanitizer to provide user-generated content and security to applications. For example, Upwork is one such example that uses AngularJS’s UGC portals.

**Conclusion**

Now, you know both the platforms NodeJS vs AngularJS, their respective features, differences, benefits, examples, and more. We can say that AngularJS deals with front-end development with all the above information, while NodeJS deals with back-end development. However, both technologies are necessary to build an entirely professional and dynamic website. 

With this article, you have incurred enough information about both NodeJS and AngularJS. So now it’s on you to choose the ideal language for your projects according to your business goals and needs. All the best! 

Want to know more details about these frameworks? Contact us now and gather the relevant information from our programmers and hire Indian programmers for your Node.Js or Angular.Js projects.

**FAQs About NodeJs vs AngularJs:**

**1. Which is better, NodeJS or AngularJS?**
The Javascript that is better for your web application depends entirely on the project you are working on. For instance:

- If you want a cost-effective web application solution, NodeJS is your ideal pick.
- If you want a server-side networking application, you should choose NodeJS, which is fast and scalable. Whereas for a client-side application, you should go for AngularJS.2.

**2. Why is NodeJS so popular?**
NodeJS has become so popular among developers and large companies because of:

- Apps Built With AngularJS
- Its ability to handle many concurrent requests simultaneously without stressing the server. 
- It is a suitable language for short-term projects and provides fast and scalable asynchronous applications.
- It is free; you just need to download the language in your system to operate it.

**3. Is it possible to use NodeJS with AngularJS?**
Yes, it is possible to use NodeJS and AngularJS together on MEAN tower with MongoDB and ExpressJS.  With the combination of NodeJS and AngularJS to build dynamic applications that are highly interactive with the users.  JavaScript developers can quickly develop isomorphic applications by incorporating both NodeJS and AngularJS.

**4. What are some disadvantages of using Angular and NodeJS?**
Some of the key disadvantages of using AngularJS and NodeJS are:

- NodeJS performs poorly when executing heavy computing tasks.
- In addition, a large number of code changes are required when using NodeJS due to the Unstable API.
- The limited SEO option of AngularJS is one of the significant drawbacks of the framework. Unfortunately, it also leads to a lack of compatibility with search engine crawlers.

**5. Are Angular and AngularJS the same?** 
AngularJS was launched in 2010 as an open-source network to build dynamic web applications for your business. The front-end web framework was based on Javascript,  whereas the Angular version was based on the Typescript framework. The angular version was launched in 2016 and is one of the framework’s most improved and newer versions. Due to this reason, everyone is migrating to this latest version of Angular.