Most of web developers might be familiar with jQuery, but not many are common with AngularJS. However, with the rise of Angular, it is important to know the differences between the two. For example, you might want to know when to use jQuery or AngularJS? How to avoid common mistake of using AngularJS in jQuery Fashion? Can we use jQuery inside or with AngularJS? You can find all of the answers here.
Definition of jQuery
jQuery is a JavaScript Library that is a lightweight and feature-rich. It helps web developers simplify the usage of client-side scripting for web applications through JavaScript. It extensively simplifies using JavaScript on a website and it’s lightweight as well as fast.
So, in general jQuery will enable you to:
- Easily manipulate the contents of a webpage
- Apply styles to make UI more attractive
- Easy DOM traversal
- Effects and animation
- Simple to make AJAX calls and
- Utilities and much more… etc.
As jQuery is a JavaScript Library, you can use this library to fulfill a single or many of the features it provides in our application partially/fully. For example, you can make AJAX-based calls or you can also give some effects and animations by simply using jQuery library. It works like a plugin.
Definition of AngularJS
AngularJS is one among so many Google products, it also an open source MVC-based framework which many people consider it as the best framework in its generation. So, if you wish to create a great tool for building highly rich client-side web applications, Angular is the best option for it. In fact, it is not only a JavaScript library, but also a framework that is design perfectly. This framework will lead us to follow some rules and a structures approach.
Compared to jQuery, AngularJS offers more features, such as follows:
- Two-Way data binding
- REST friendly
- MVC-based pattern
- Deep Linking
- Template
- Form Validation
- Dependency Injection
- Localization
- Full Testing Environment
- Server Communication
When to Use jQuery or AngularJS?
Many people think that AngularJS and jQuery share the same value of technology, but AngularJS is actually more suitable for the web application development as it can work on the HTML code and JSON data. It works in developing for interactive and robust applications but using the same for a simple website development. As a result, it produces slow loading and quite erratic websites.
On the other hand, jQuery provides a fast and feature-rich language. Moreover, it has in-built features such as HTML document traversal, event handling, manipulation, animation and Ajax support and others. Those stuffs will make you easier to develop hardcore websites. Therefore, it is necessary to frame a sound approach dedicated either to develop an advanced web application or website development before utilizing any of these highly intuitive and robust languages.
Don’t Use AngularJS in jQuery Fashion
If you love to use a huge amount of plugins, jQuery is the easier framework that you can use. However, with AngularJS, you will experience a totally different structure. This will make it more difficult for you to find any plugins or to create one. However, AngularJS has jqLite which owns the jQuery functionalities and as the result, it can be applied for developing different plugins as per the need of websites but not good for developing or patching codes of old plugins and embedding it on the website.
Code Comparison
For a developer perspective, the code comparison is as follows:
| jQuery Code | AngularJS Code |
| <div id=”tabs”> <ul> <li><a href=”#tabs-1″>Tab 1</a><li> <li><a href=”#tabs-2″>Tab 2</a><li> <li><a href=”#tabs-3″>Tab 3</a><li> </ul> <div id=”tabs-1″> … </div> <div id=”tabs-2> … </div> <div id=”tab-3> … </div> </div> $(“#tabs”).tabs(); | <tabs> <tab title=”Tab 1″> … </tab> <tab title=”Tab 2″> … </tab> <tab title=”Tab 3″> … </tab> </tabs> |
Can We Use jQuery inside or With AngularJS?
In certain scenarios, we may want our AngularJS application to use jQuery library. Now, AngularJS can use jQuery in our application when the application is being bootstrapped. Otherwise, Angular will use its own implementation of the subset of jQuery that we discussed above jqLite.
Conclusion
AngularJS and JQuery are actually two technologies that are meant for different target. JQuery is best suited for DOM manipulation while AngularJS is suited for web application development.