Since the very release of Angular 2 beta-version, the community has split into two camps: those who are for and against the new version. We have gathered the ideas from both sides of the barricades to figure out the main pros and cons of Angular 2.
What is all the fuss about?
This year beta-version of Angular 2 has been released. It differs a lot from Angular 1, which put plenty developers who already got used to and even loved the previous version, in a bit uncomfortable position. The most stable version of Angular 2 will be released by the end of the year (you can track milestones here). And with it coming, more developers consider, whether they should upgrade to Angular 2 or not.
So let’s have a look at both sides of the medal.
Main advantages of Angular 2
Angular 2 differs a lot from Angular JS. To a great extent this is done to solve the issues Angular 1 didn’t manage to cope with. This way we highlighted the following features:
- More suitable for future web
Angular 2 deals great with web components support. It offers easier APIs and nested components, takes care of lazy loading and plenty other things that have become the standard of the modern web.
- Performance increased
Angular 2 is much more suitable for large scale projects, which increases the possibilities for its use significantly.
- Better QA
Angular 2 introduces easier debugging system and is simply much easier to test than Angular 1, which provides perfect grounds for much more stable products.
- Typescript introduced
Though not everyone is in love with Typescript, one should admit that it offers an improved set of JavaScript, which great safety level, combination options, better syntax for C# and Java developers and plenty other perks. So we see it more as an advantage than disadvantage.
- Usability improved
Angular 2 simply looks much easier to use and new interface is significantly user-friendlier.
Looks so great, right? Why anybody would be against such a great update? Let’s have a peek into what the other side says.
Main disadvantages of Angular 2
Basically, there are 2 main points people, who don’t like Angular 2 are talking about. Let’s see the details of them:
- Typescript is not so good
The first and major thing about upset with Angular 2 is the introduction of Typescript. We should admit, that despite all Angular 2 advantages it still has a bunch of drawbacks. The most serious of them is that:
- It is pretty hard to handle it if you don’t know OOP languages, so it will required more effort from some developers.
- Besides, you can’t run TS with compile stage and can’t fix what as broken in JS.
- There are also a few JS tricks that will now be hard to implement.
So if you were in love with Angular 1, it might be hard for you to let it go.
- Angular 2 is too different from the previous version
The second group of complainers doesn’t go into that many details, and claims that Angular 2 was supposed to be an update, not a new system. We agree, that getting used to Angular 2 might take a while and it’s not a simple small release, but a game changer. So if you are not fond of changes, you might feel uncomfortable at least at the beginning.
So should I update to Angular 2 or not? We will definitely recommend you to switch to Angular 2 as soon as possible. You don’t want to find yourself sticking to the version that is not supported. It might hurt you a bit, like with new shoes, but we are sure, pretty soon you will be happily walking with them, enjoying all new opportunities.
