jQuery vs Angular : Common Differences You Must Know in 2023

Ankur Akvaliya

CO-CTO

Published On: June 05, 2023

Digital presence is of prime importance for any successful business. To opt for it, you must have the perfect and responsive website for your business. Such web pages play an essential role to connect with the target audience and improve business productivity.

Moreover, your flexible website must have a rich UI, easy-to-navigate functionality, top-rich content, mobile-friendly websites, user-centric functionality, and also faster time-to-market. It becomes your prime duty to make a selection of the best and organized framework that aids you in minimizing development time.

Currently, Angular and jQuery are the development tools that are mostly used by developers to build high-quality websites or web pages with minimum effort and time. But what is the common key difference between jQuery vs Angular? This Angular vs jQuery article covers information about Angular and jQuery and the basic differences between jQuery and Angular.

Key Takeaways

What is Angular?

Angular is an open-source TypeScript-based web application framework that allows web developers to build highly-scalable and cross-platform applications. The Angular is a front-end development framework that is well-equipped with a structured approach and defined rules.

According to Google Trends, Angular is worldwide popular technology for web and app devlopmnet work.

You’ll find many advantages of AngularJS frameworks that will become an easy for you to draft new applications from scratch.

Some of the outstanding key features of Angular as an open-source framework:

1. Cross-platform
2. High speed and optimum performance
3. Angular App for everyone
4. Supports declarative templates
5. Efficient Two-way data binding
6. Angular CLI (Command Line Interface)
7. Less code framework
8. Dependency injection
9. Angular route resolver

Worldwide some pioneer tech companies and big brands like Forbes, Google, Microsoft Xbox, Freelancer and PayPal are build website with Angular.

Market Share and Web Usage Statistics of AngularJS

Top Industry Verticals where AngularJS is being used.

Angular usage by websites across the globe.

[Image Source:Similartech]

After exploring the basics of Angular framework in the article of Angular vs jQuery, its time to explore the basic of jQuery library.

Want to Build Robust and Secure Apps?

Albiorix is Best Angular development company having strong expertise in building single-page applications for businesses.

Contact Us

What is jQuery?

After understanding the basics of what is Angular , it’s time to understand the concept of jQuery. Released under MIT License, jQuery is a free, open-source and feature rich JavaScript library used for simplifying client-side web page development. The primary purpose of jQuery JavaScript library is to minimize code lines and make JavaScript more interactive and dynamic.

Google Trends show us popularity of jQuery around the world,

Multiple developers working with the custom software development companies typically use jQuery as their favourite tool for web development. You’ll be surprised to know that more than 77.9% of all the websites on the web use jQuery, according to W3techs.

Some of the top and advanced features of jQuery library include:

1. HTML/DOM manipulation
2. Event Handling
3. CSS manipulation
4. Dependency Injection
5. Effect and Animation control
6. Provides cross-browser compatibility coding functionality
7. Makes end code clean and lightweight
8. Ajax Call/JSON support

We have seen the basics of jQuery vs Angular in terms of its definition and features. Now, it’s time to explore the difference between Angular and jQuery.

Market Share and Web Usage Statistics of jQuery

Top Industry Verticals where jQuery is being used.

jQuery usage by websites across the globe.

[Image Source: Similartech]

Enhance your web development with the power of jQuery!

Discover how our expert JavaScript developers can leverage this versatile JavaScript library to create dynamic and interactive web experiences.

Contact Us

jQuery vs Angular: Common Differences of jQuery and Angular

jQuery and Angular are the development tools that are mostly used to build high-quality websites with minimum effort and time. Let’s see the ultimate key differences between jQuery vs Angular in the form of a comparison table.

1. Language Support

   Angular uses TypeScript programming language; on the other hand, JavaScript is utilized by jQuery. TypeScript is considered the superset of JavaScript and usually supports JavaScript Data Grid Libraries & API Documentation.

   JavaScript is one of the most popular programming languages developers use and is more complex and advanced. TypeScript is more user-friendly, progressive, and template language in its design. It follows better code structuring and object-oriented programming techniques, including coding highlighting, user interface, code navigation functionality, and code refactoring.

   And if you personally ask me for the difference between TypeScript vs JavaScript, both of these popular client-side technologies play a vital role in dealing with web app development.

2. Two Way Data Binding

   Angular is equipped with a well-known two-way data binding feature. Such a two-way data binding feature is responsible for data synchronization between different layers and helps keep the consistent and hassle-free coding structure.

   Once the web developers make any change in the View layer, it will be directly reflected in the Model layer. While jQuery is unidirectional, all the data flows from the Model layer to others. The jQuery UI components remain interactive while reducing the debugging complexity.

   Both methods have equally relevant user interface functioning, one supersedes efficiency, and the other focuses on consistency and productivity.

3. Usage

   In this article on Angular vs jQuery, it’s time to highlight the usage scenario of both technologies. Angular JS is the best option for web application development. It is one of the most popular JavaScript frameworks, specially developed for simplifying single-page applications.

   jQuery library is nothing but a consistent DOM API that is used explicitly for programming languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript DOM manipulation. In addition, this library is cross-platform and provides cross-browser compatibility for front-end development.

   It means that you can easily run your application on supported browsers like Google Chrome, Firefox, Mozilla, Internet Explorer, or any other modern browsers.

   As per the recent survey, it has been found that jQuery is used by 77.4% of all websites, which is a JavaScript library market share of 94.8%.

   

4. Components

   The jQuery components are UI elements. Simply put, they are a collection of user interface interactions, UI elements, themes, effects, and widgets. These components are built on top of the jQuery as an open-source feature-rich JavaScript library.

   And if we talk about Angular, angular component libraries are nothing but the building blocks for UI in the application. So we can say that it follows a component hierarchy structure. These components follow a template, and only one component can be instantiated per element in the template.

   Related Post: Angular vs AngularJS

5. Speed and Performance

   As the comparison table defines, jQuery is created especially for smaller projects. For large-scale projects, it can become somewhat complex and challenging to maintain.

   But in the case of Angular JS in terms of difference between Angular and jQuery, the web application scaling process is relatively easy compared to jQuery without affecting performance.

   jQuery can take up a lot of development time for simple code tasks. In addition, as it is a much older technology, it can get tough to code some unique features that your project might need. With Angular, you can significantly reduce time-to-market.

jQuery vs Angular : Which One Should You Opt For Web App Development?

I hope you’re now clear about the technical differences between Angular vs jQuery. Now the big question is: What to Choose, jQuery or Angular?
To answer this question, first of all, let’s explore what developers are preferring the best for web app development. As per the 2022 survey by Statista, it has been found that developers prefer jQuery for web development more in comparison to Angular.

jQuery is recommended if your project requirement involves:

• A lightweight and robust tool for performing quick DOM (Document Object Model) manipulation for your application.
• You can quickly add additional jQuery functions to a pre-existing web application or website.
• To include animation and other graphic interactive jQuery elements in your web application.
• Rapid HTML traversal, event handling or Ajax calls interactions on your website.
• Complete flexibility and customized features.
• Working with Vanilla (plain) JavaScript.

The Angular framework is the best option for you if the project requirement includes the following:

• Unit tests and robust error detection.
• Building testable web applications that work the best as per your business needs.
• Visually rich and engaging apps
• Rapid development
• An organized data structures with reusable code
• Single-page applications
• Creating single-page applications

The form validation in your web application is made possible by using jQuery as an extension to Angular framework. Therefore, you can increase productivity and performance by developing an AngularJS web app using jQuery.

So, whatever option you select for your next business project, both Angular and jQuery are the prime and superior examples to work on it. However, we have come across the detailed difference between Angular vs jQuery to clear all your doubts regarding both the technologies.

When to Use Angular vs jQuery

When deciding whether to use Angular or jQuery, it’s important to consider the specific requirements and goals of your project. Here are some factors to consider:

• Project Complexity: Angular is a robust framework for building complex web applications. It provides features such as two-way data binding, component-based architecture, dependency injection, and a powerful templating system.
• Single-page Applications (SPAs): Angular is well-suited for building SPAs, where the majority of the application logic is executed on the client side. It offers routing capabilities, a modular structure, and an ecosystem of libraries and tools that make it easier to develop SPAs.
• DOM Manipulation: jQuery excels at DOM manipulation. It provides a concise syntax for selecting and manipulating HTML elements, handling events, and performing animations. If your project primarily involves interacting with the DOM and making small enhancements to an existing web page, jQuery may be a lightweight and convenient choice.
• Browser Compatibility: jQuery has widespread browser support, making it suitable for projects that need to work across various browsers, including older versions. Angular, being a newer framework, may require additional configuration and polyfills to ensure compatibility with older browsers.
• Learning Curve: jQuery has a relatively low learning curve compared to Angular. It has been around for a long time and has a large user base, which means there are abundant resources and tutorials available. Angular, on the other hand, has a steeper learning curve due to its complexity and the need to learn concepts such as TypeScript, component-based architecture, and Angular-specific patterns.
• Community and Ecosystem: Angular has a strong Angular developer community and a rich ecosystem of libraries, Angular tools, and resources. It benefits from continuous development and updates from the Angular team and is backed by Google. jQuery also has a large community but has seen a decline in popularity in recent years, with many developers opting for modern frameworks like Angular or React.

In summary, Angular is typically favored for larger and more complex projects, especially single-page applications, where its powerful features and architecture shine. jQuery, on the other hand, is still relevant for smaller projects or situations where DOM manipulation is the primary concern, and a lightweight library is preferred.

Conclusion

Let’s summarize what we have seen so far in jQuery vs Angular. If we talk about small-scale web applications, jQuery is one of the best options in the case of Angular vs jQuery. On the other hand, Angular is a Javascript framework that is an ideal choice for a single-page application that works smoothly per your business needs. To develop high-performance web apps, selecting the AngularJS development services is the best option.

It entirely depends on your business and client needs, you need to select the right technology choice. If you are still confused between Angular vs jQuery, which option is the best one!

Still unsure which is better, Angular vs jQuery?

You can get aid from our talented team of web developers. Hire AngularJS developer Now ! and get a free consultation with one of our Full-Stack devlopers at any moment, who can help you plan and carry out your web development ideas.