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Ask HN: What is the best alternative to Angular JavaScript framework?

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Re: Ask HN: What is the best alternative to Angular JavaScript framework?

#11

Post by drinchev »

Of course as all questions related to development, the answer is definitely "It depends."

That's also why there are so much alternatives of MV(VM|C) platforms out there.

You can ask yourself a couple of questions when you start your project that will help you what framework will best fit you :

1. Is it a huge single-page app that needs client-side url handling?

2. Do you have plenty of DOM manipulation?

3. Are you going to have a REST API backend?

4. Do you plan to support IE 5. Do you plan to use jQuery or plain ("vanilla") javascript will be your DOM manipulating library? ( Actually this one is also a question that should be answered, considering your application requirements ).

When answering all of those you can have a second round of questions :

1. What you and your team are experienced in.

2. What is the current market of developers and the popularity of your framework? ( people that have experience with Knockout are less than Backbone experienced ones - e.g. ).

That will give you not only the best alternative framework to Angular, but the right framework for your project.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best alternative to Angular JavaScript framework?

#12

Post by o_____________o »

React, which is "just the V in MVC"

Combine that with Reflux[1], which is a more opinionated framework around it. It's conceptually a little different than the Flux pattern that Facebook recommends, but the changes make sense after you have some insight into the Flux pitfalls.

Stir in some react-router[2].

It's still not as full featured as Angular or Ember, so you'll need to adjust your expectations there.

On that note, the Ember team has stated[3] they're going to to take the best ideas from React, so it's probably a good idea to keep an eye on that project as well.

Mithril[4] also looks React-ish and interesting.

1: https://github.com/spoike/refluxjs

2: https://github.com/rackt/react-router

3: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1afMLTCpRxhJpurQ97VBH...

4: http://lhorie.github.io/mithril/

Re: Ask HN: What is the best alternative to Angular JavaScript framework?

#13

Post by thecolorblue »

I have just gotten started with meteor.js and I am liking it. I find the documentation to be lacking (or maybe I have not found the documentation everyone else uses), and there is probably just as much 'magic' going on as angular, but I like that the framework as a whole has more features, i.e. the cli or deployments.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best alternative to Angular JavaScript framework?

#15

Post by jasim »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #9
percept wrote: post #5

You might check the comments at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8679245 for alternatives (React, for example, seems to be gaining mindshare), but this may also be a good time to reflect on the broader implications (as many are doing there as well).

Do note that React is just a view library; you'll need something like Flux or your own framework or library of choice to actually make an application with it.

I respectfully disagree. You'd need flux when you have too many stores talking to each other. Not every app becomes complicated enough to warrant that. You can get started with using an EventEmitter based Store and later refactor into actions and dispatchers if required.

And React is not just the 'V' in MVC. I've seen everyone repeating it (including the official docs), and I'm still not sure what it is trying to say. I wrote about it in a previous comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8653517

Re: Ask HN: What is the best alternative to Angular JavaScript framework?

#18

Post by swah »

o_____________o wrote: post #12

React, which is "just the V in MVC" Combine that with Reflux[1], which is a more opinionated framework around it. It's conceptually a little different than the Flux pattern that Facebook recommends, but the changes make sense after you have some insight into the Flux pitfalls. Stir in some react-router[2]. It's still not as full featured as Angular or Ember, so you'll need to adjust your expectations there. On that n…

Will all due respect, what are the odds that a single guy has "insights into Flux pitfalls" that the gigantic creator of React, that is deploying the tech for billions of people, has missed?

Re: Ask HN: What is the best alternative to Angular JavaScript framework?

#20

Post by cacozen »

http://vuejs.org/ is similar to Angular in some aspects, but smaller and simpler. From it's site: Philosophically, the goal is to provide the benefits of reactive data binding and composable view components with an API that is as simple as possible. It is not a full-blown framework - it is designed to be a view layer that is simple and flexible. You can use it alone for rapid prototyping, or mix and match with other libraries for a custom front-end stack. It’s also a natural fit for no-backend services such as Firebase.
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