Can AngularJs and Node.js be a perfect combination of front-end and back-end technologies? What is the difference between AngularJs and Node.js? There are a lot of constraints involved while making a proper choice for web development technologies.
If you are confused between AngularJS and ReactJs for front-end development, check out: AngularJS vs ReactJs, and know which technology will be best suited for your web development.
And if AngularJS is your preferred front-end technology but wondering “Can I use Node.js with AngularJS?” as back-end technology, then don’t worry we got you covered.
Here, you will understand how AngularJS and Node.js is a perfect combination for web development.
What is AngularJS?
✦ An open-source framework for web development
✦ Used widely for single page application development
✦ Requires less code for DOM manipulation
✦ Model view controller-based architecture
✦ Easy breakdown of code files for the application
What is Node.js?
Node.js is an open-source cross-platform runtime environment for the execution of JavaScript applications outside the browser.
Node.js is built on Google chrome’s JavaScript engine. It provides different JavaScript Modules simplifying the process of development.
Purpose: To build fast and scalable network applications. It uses an event-driven model that makes it lightweight and efficient. Node.js application is written in JavaScript and can be executed within Node.js runtime on any OS.
Node.js is supported by WebStorm (IDE) and WebStorm claims to best IDE. Microsoft visual studio also supports Node.js.
If you are planning to start a project, we have AngularJS Developers and Node.js Developers experts ready to start immediately. Let’s get in touch and discuss the idea.
Features of Node.js :
Single-Threaded
Node.js is based on a single thread model that can handle a considerably larger number of requests. The main event is executed by a single thread, while other processes are performed in the background by separate threads.
Asynchronous & Event-Driven
The APIs of the Node.js library are asynchronous. This means a Node.js-based server operates in a non-blocking way. The server doesn’t wait for an API to return data, it immediately proceeds to the next API after calling the first one.
A notification mechanism of Events in Node.js helps the server to gather the response from a previous API call.
Very Fast
As Node.js is built on Google Chrome’s v8 JavaScript engine, the library is fast in the execution of code.
Scalability
Node.js is single-threaded but is highly scalable. The event mechanism helps the server in responding in a non-blocking pattern which provides better scalability than the traditional servers which creates only limited threads for handling requests.
So a single process without creating new threads. This also means that large processing must be avoided using Node.js.
Large numbers of requests are provided by Node.js even though it uses a single thread which is different from traditional servers like APACHE.
Buffering
There is no buffering in the data. The application simply outputs the data in blocks. The user retrieves data easily, as he doesn’t have to for the entire operation to get completed. Thus, the overall processing time is reduced.
Concurrency
When Node.js Performs an input-output operation like reading from the network, accessing the database, or the filesystem, instead of thread blocking and wasting the CPU cycles, it will resume the procedure when the response comes back.
Node Package Manager(NPM)
NPM has nearly 50,000 – 80,000 packages in its public online repository which is the world’s largest online repository. Node.js is highly recommended as it has wide repository access.
Caching
On requesting the Node.js module for the first time, it is cached in the memory. This eliminates the need to re-execute the code when requested again, making the application faster.
AngularJS vs Node.js
A constructive comparison between AngularJS and Node.js for understanding why they form a perfect web development technology pair.
Similarities between Node.js and AngularJS:
Data Binding
Both Angular and Node have bidirectional data binding. This approach involves less code also the data flow will be simple.
MVC architecture
In angular the controller and view are on the client-side and node js provides the server-side so integrating will work properly , As they cover both client and server-side.
AngularJS in Node.js
Angular application is a Single page application so the contents can be rendered with the content of the Node.js backend.
Fortunately for us, Node.js provides templates to run templates on the server-side. From any of the given templates, one can use them for completing the rendering.
Other key factors involved for the integration to work:
Angular provides dependencies that ease up the program flow and it’s typically “what you see is what you get”. AngularJs and Node.js duo provide better applications and hence it is preferred for executing real-time apps. Ex: Google docs
For improving overall scalability Node.Js will be a better choice and Node.js will make up for certain performance limitations Angular.
Closing up the article
A lot of similar features between AngularJS and Node.js show us how they can be utilized together. The integration works well for some applications and maybe not for others, it all comes down to the project requirements and approach of the team.