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Today, businesses have many options when it comes to the web development platforms and technologies they choose to use, yet, there’s a reason so many of them have flocked to AngularJS.
While HTML is a great declarative language for static documents, it leaves a lot to be desired in the realm of web applications. This, however, is where AngularJS shines.
What is AngularJS?
AngularJS is an open-source, structural framework for web apps. It was designed by Google developers back in 2009, with the goal of simplifying front-end development. It’s become hugely popular among developers and designers alike, as it gives them everything they need to set up the front end of a single-page web application. It lets developers use HTML as their template language and use HTML’s syntax to easily extend web application components and express them clearly and succinctly.
As its developer guide says, AngularJS is what HTML would have been, had it been built for applications. It solves many of the limitations of HTML, and saves those who build applications from simply having to trick the browser into doing what they need it to do or spending time creating a lot of extra code.
Today, AngularJS is a leading framework for building dynamic, single-page web applications (known as SPAs), including ones like PayPal and Netflix. The AngularJS framework simplifies the entire process of programming, and it’s backed by a supportive grassroots community of developers and enthusiasts. Although not every app is a good fit for AngularJS, a great number of them are.
How AngularJS simplifies front-end development
In AngularJS, single-page apps load the entire content of the site in a single page. The advantage is that when the main page is loaded, clicking on links will not reload the entire page, but instead dynamically update sections within the page itself. The framework teaches the browser new syntax through a construct called “directives.”
Other benefits of AngularJS include:
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Extends HTML: AngularJS solves the challenge of HTML not being dynamic by nature; it extends HTML so its users can manipulate pages dynamically.
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Simplifies development: It simplifies application development by presenting a higher level of abstraction to the developer.
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Two-way data binding: Most templating systems bind data in only one direction by merging template and model components together into a view. Changes to any of the components are not automatically reflected in the others, meaning that the developer has to write code that constantly syncs the view with the model, and the model with the view. AngularJS takes care of that problem with two-way data binding, which is the automatic synchronization of data between the model and the view components. This enables users to treat the model as the single source of truth in their application and eliminates a lot of code that they would normally have to write.
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Dependency injection: This is a software design pattern in which components are given their dependencies rather than hard coding them within the component. This makes dependencies configurable, and helps to make components reusable, maintainable, and testable. Dependency injection enables users to elegantly get ahold of what they need, when they need it, rather than being forced to hard code everything.
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SPA-based web apps: These enable rich, dynamic, and fast-loading content that mimics that of a desktop application. AngularJS expects the browser to build the page, rather than relying on the server to do all the work, which results in much faster load times.
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Succinct code: AngularJS makes it easy for developers to write much more succinct code than they would be by other means, such as Javascript alone.
Job outlook for AngularJS skills
As technology continues to evolve at lightning speed, so does technology staffing and recruitment, job titles that require skills such as AngularJS are in high demand—and continue to climb in popularity. LinkedIn recently released its third annual U.S. Emerging Jobs Report. This report highlights the top 15 jobs that have emerged over the last five years, as well as the skills uniquely associated with them.
Job titles like Full Stack Engineer continue to be in high demand, as 2020 marks the second year this job title has made LinkedIn’s report. Full Stack Engineer roles have seen a 35 percent growth rate every year since 2015, owing their popularity in part to companies realizing the value of having engineers and developers with the ability to work on technologies across various domains. AngularJS is one of the skills unique to this job, along with React.js, Code.js, Javascript, and CSS. Industries hiring for this type of talent range from the computer software industry, to financial services, to higher education. Some of the top cities hiring for Javascript Developers are New York, San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Boston, and Washington, D.C.
Another job on LinkedIn’s Emerging Jobs list is Javascript Developer. In fact, it’s one of the most in-demand roles in the country, as are the skills associated with it, according to the LinkedIn list. Javascript is one of the five biggest skills in demand in the software industry today, and AngularJS is one of the unique skills necessary for success in this position. Similarly to Full Stack Engineers, some of the top cities hiring for Javascript Developers are New York, San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Boston, and Washington, D.C. Industries hiring for these developers mostly include computer software, IT & services, Internet, and marketing and advertising.
It’s safe to say that AngularJS is an extremely valuable skill for candidates, and by all indications, it will only continue to grow with the expanding world of technology in 2020 and beyond.
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