Using angular 4 as a part of existing web application - javascript

Is this possible (and is this good idea ?) to use angular4 as a part of existing web application ? I can not rewrite whole application to angular. I need to develop a module with a lot of charts, tables (with real time data) and huge amount of repeatable components, so I am looking for some technology that I can use along with jQuery, underscore (and some other js libs) and let me doing extensible components, easy to use and easy to extend. Maybe can you propose some other solution, maybe react will be better or somethin else.

I would say Angular would be a little heavy for this because it's a full fledged framework. React will definitely be a better fit. I've personally used React for small components on my existing pages. The only time I've used Angular is when the whole app is written in it.
Vue.js is also a good option.

Related

Migrate backbone to angular 6

Currently, my project is running on backbone js which is a hybrid application. So, I want to migrate the backbone Js application to angular 6 but I need specification Why angular is better than Backbone Js for building a hybrid application.
Okay... I see what you try to achieve here. IMHO As a JS-developer you should be able to answer most of this question by yourself. No framework or toolkit is perfect, neither are Backbone.js or Angular (or PhoneGap / Ionic / React (native) / you call it)! If you want to migrate your app to another language, ask yourself for which reasons you would do so: Do you simply want to learn another language? Or has Backbone.js proven to fail in certain situations/scenarios?
I did a hybrid-app project several years ago only using Backbone.js - and had no problems so far. However, if I would have to do the same job with more complex views, view-transitions, routes and all that mobile-related stuff, I'd probably choose a toolkit that can handle these scenarios much better and with less amount of code - such as Flutter, React native or even native programming. That is why you will first have to assess for yourself what your hybrid-app project really needs. Do you have to deal with heavy data? Then keep on using Backbone.js. Do you need two-way data-binding in forms? Well, that one goes to Angular. Or are parts of your code simply too verbose, un-testable or buggy? Then you should assume refactoring your code as much as possible instead of re-inventing the wheel.
A last word: There have been several discussions in the Backbone.js/Marionette.js community about how to migrate an app to framework xy. As a rule of thumb you should keep in mind that developing NEW components in another language / scripting style is way smarter that re-developing the entire app (which would, as a matter of fact, break a lot of your given business logic and lead to endless nights of doing the same thing over and over).

Is it common use case to use Angular 4 or React to build sections of a website?

I have to start by saying that I studied Angular 4 but I have not used it for any real projects and I don't know nothing about React. With so many technologies available I feel a little confused on when and how to use them. I have a website that I built using asp.net core. The website is a store that shows objects for sale and enable users to add and modify their products. The site is a MPA that eventually (not to say often) uses Ajax to make the application more dynamic and fast to load. I was thinking about turning the control panel that enables users add/modify their products, and uses a lot of javascript/jquery code to support those tasks, into SPA using React or Angular to make the website navigation more pleasant. Is this approach of using React and Angular in a section of website a good idea or Angular or React should only be used on the entire site?
Yes, you can combine React or Angular components with just regular website, especially when you want to rework complicated logic, which is better to do with such frameworks. You can also see how it works in action, reworking small components and decide if it worth.
I wouldn't say that it is a common practice, combining Angular 4 with React or the other way around. It is true that you can use React components in a Angular application but not the other way around.
Its really something you have to consider for yourself, usually you decide to take full advantage of a specific framework. Personal preference and or the preference of the people you are working with usually determine this.
All of this is very much based on ones own opinion.

Angular js for non single-page Applications

I've been learning Angular 2 recently, and I must say that this is a great framework if I wanted to build a single-page application.
However, I was wondering how one would integrate angular with a normal, old style websites (say, built on codeigniter) if they only wanted the two way binding functionality?
Of course, I could use angular 2 for that, but with all the routing machinery of angular, it seems rather... out of place. It just seems like I'm trying to use an axe as a hammer.
So, my question is: what would you suggest to someone who wants to build a non single-page website, with old school loading pages, but for the page itself to be very interactive and utilize two way binding? For example, a users list which is a page in itself, but pagination is done via ajax... etc Should I just go with angular2, or maybe another library that's simply more suited for this purpose? Some suggested that ReactJS may just be what I'm looking for.
What do you think?
Although it's true that
client-side routing is just a small piece
of a very large framework, the fact that the structure of a Angular (2) project has exactly 1 index.html file with no server side code, at least implicitly tells us that there's a lot of framework intended for SPAs which a multi-page application may not need.
If what makes Angular 2 a great framework for you is data binding and productivity then have a look at Ember.js. Ember makes it easy to follow best practices rather than spending time on trivial choices.

Is React suitable for multi page applications?

I'm currently developing a Single Page Application (in this case AngularJS), but as it grows I find it more and more tempting to refactor it into a multi page app.
However, I still need the ability to have sophisticated, dynamic UIs on the client (which requires more than just DOM manipulation but awareness of my information model).
I know most people use jQuery for this; I'm afraid it won't get me as far as I want, and I'm wondering if ReactJS is suitable for that job (well, when you're running a small company, not Facebook).
To be quite honest I've tried the single page app route with Angular, Backbone and even Knockout to an extent.
In my efforts I've found the most maintainable solution, especially for large teams is to use a multi-page app and rely on React to create a dynamic single page type experience where it's necessary.
Due to the buzz term SPA I've found a lot of teams think they need to be cutting edge by adding unnecessary complications like an SPA where a standard multi-page MVC app is a much better solution.
To me, React is the perfect solution for the problem of building a large scale website which may act as a multi-page app in some areas where necessary, but use standard sane MVC elsewhere.
React just works very easily with Django, ASP.NET, Ruby etc...

Architecture of a single-page JavaScript web application?

How should a complex single-page JS web application be structured on the client-side? Specifically I'm curious about how to cleanly structure the application in terms of its model objects, UI components, any controllers, and objects handling server persistence.
MVC seemed like a fit at first. But with UI components nested at various depths (each with their own way of acting on/reacting to model data, and each generating events which they themselves may or may not handle directly), it doesn't seem like MVC can be cleanly applied. (But please correct me if that's not the case.)
--
(This question resulted in two suggestions of using ajax, which is obviously needed for anything other than the most trivial one-page app.)
MVC architecture of PureMVC/JS is the most elegant IMO. I learned a lot from it. I also found Scalable JavaScript Application Architecture by Nicholas Zakas helpful in researching client side architecture options.
Two other tips
I've found view, focus, and input management are areas that need special attention in single page web apps
I also found it helpful to abstract away the JS library, leaving door open to change mind on what you use, or mix & match should the need arise.
Nicholas Zakas's presentation as shared by Dean is a very good place to start with. I was also struggling to answer the same question for a while. After doing couple of large scale Javascript products, thought of sharing the learnings as a reference architecture in case someone needs it. Have a look at:
http://boilerplatejs.org/
It addresses common Javascript development concerns such as:
Solution structuring
Creating complex module hierarchy
Self contained UI components
Event based inter module communication
Routing, History, Bookmarking
Unit Testing
Localization
Document Generation
etc.
The way I build apps:
ExtJS framework, single page app, every component defined in a separate JS file, loaded on-demand
Every component contacts its own dedicated web service (sometimes more than one), fetching data into ExtJS stores or special-purpose data structures
The rendering uses standard ExtJS components, so I can bind stores to grids, load forms from records, ...
Just choose a javascript framework, and follow its best practices. My favorites are ExtJS and GWT, but YMMV.
Do NOT roll your own solution for this. The effort required to duplicate what modern javascript frameworks do is too big. It is always faster to adapt something existing than to build it all from scratch.
Question - What makes an application complex ?
Answer - The use of word 'complex' in the question itself. Hence, a common tendency will be to look out for a complex solution right from the beginning.
Question - What does the word complex means ?
Answer - Anything that is unknown or partially understood. Example : The theory of Gravity even today is COMPLEX to me but not to Sir Isaac Newton who discovered it in 1655.
Question - What tools can I use to deal with complexity ?
Answer - Understanding and simplicity.
Question - But I understand my application . Its still complex ?
Answer - Think twice, because understanding and complexity does not co-exist. If you understand a huge huge application, I am sure you will agree that it is nothing but an integration of small and simple units.
Question - Why all of the above philosophical discussion for a question on
Single Page Application (SAP)?
Answer - Because,
-> SPA is not some kind of core technology that is newly invented for which we need to reinvent the wheel for a lot of things that we are doing in application development.
-> Its a concept driven by the need for better performance, availability, scalability and maintainability of web applications.
-> Its a fairly newly identified design pattern, so an understanding of SPA as a design pattern goes long way in making informed decisions about the architecture of a SPA.
-> At the root level no SPA is complex, because after understanding the needs of an application and the SPA pattern, you will realize that you are still creating an application, pretty much the same way you did before with some modifications and re-arrangements in the development approach.
Question - What about the use of Frameworks ?
Answer - Frameworks are boiler plate code / solution for some commonly identified and generic patterns, hence they can take off x% (variable, based on the application) load from application development but then not a lot should be expected out of them specially for heavy and growing applications. Its always a good case to be in complete control of your application structure and flow but most importantly the code for it. There should be no grey or black areas in the application code.
Question - Can you suggest one of the many approaches to SPA architecture ?
Answer - Think of your own framework based on the nature of your application. Categorize application components. Look for an existing framework that is close to your derived framework, if you find it then use it, if you do not find it then I suggest going ahead with your own. Creating framework is quite an effort upfront but produces better results in long run. Some basic components in my SPA framework will be:
Data Source : Models / Collections of Models
Mark Up for presenting data : Templates
Interaction with the application : Events
State capturing and navigation : Routing
Utilities , widgets and plug-ins : libraries
Let me know if this helped in any way and good luck with your SPA architecture !!
The best thing to do is to look at example uses of other frameworks:
TodoMVC showcases many many SPA frameworks.
You can use javascript MVC framework http://javascriptmvc.com/
The web application that I am currently working on uses JQuery and I would not recommend it for any large single page web application. Most frameworks i.e. Dojo, yahoo, google and others use namespaces in their libraries but JQuery does not and this is a significant drawback.
If your web site is intended to be small then JQuery would be ok but if you intended to build a large site then I would recommend looking at all the Javascript frameworks available and deciding which one most meets your needs.
And I would recommend applying the MVC pattern to your javascript/html and probably most of your object model for the javascript could be done as the json that you actually return from the server through ajax and the javascirpt uses the json to render html.
I would recommend reading the book Ajax in action as it covers most of the stuff you will need to know.
I'm using Samm.js in several one page applications with great success
I would go with jQuery MVC
Check out http://bennadel.com/projects/cormvc-jquery-framework.htm Ben is pretty sharp and if you dig around on his blog he has some nice posts about how CorMVC is put together and why.
Alternative: take a look to ItsNat
Think in JavaScript but code the same in Java in server with the same DOM APIs, in server is way easier to manage your application without custom client/bridges because UI and data are together.
Or have a look at https://github.com/flosse/scaleApp
NikaFramework allows you to create single-page application. Also allows you to write HTML, CSS (SASS), JavaScript into separate files and bundle them into only one output file in the end.
I would recommend to explore Yeoman. It allow you to use existing "best practice" for your new project.
For example:
if you decide to use Angular.js, there is a Yeoman generator, that give you a structure for routing, views, services, etc. Also allow you to Test, minify your code, etc.
If you decide to use Backbone, checkout this generator

Categories