Angular Versions & History
Angular has undergone several changes and updates since its inception in 2009, with each version bringing improvements and advancements to the framework. In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into the history of Angular and its various versions.
AngularJS
AngularJS, also known as Angular 1, was released in 2010 by Google. It was developed as a client-side framework to create dynamic web applications quickly. The framework enables developers to build SPA (Single Page Applications) through the utilization of dependency injection, HTML templates, and data-binding.
This version of Angular had some notable features that made it quite popular. Some of its remarkable features included the use of two-way data binding, directives, dependency injection, and a powerful testing framework.
Angular 2
In 2016, the Angular team released Angular 2, a complete overhaul of the original framework. Angular 2 was a framework with a lot of changes that broke compatibility with AngularJS. It was built from the ground up to cater to the challenges and needs of modern-day web applications.
One of the significant differences in Angular 2 was that it used TypeScript, a superset of JavaScript. TypeScript added a layer of type checking and was considered to be more organized and maintainable when writing code.
Angular 2 also extended its support for the mobile platform and brought components, which replaced the directives in AngularJS. Additionally, multiple improvements in the module system and the componentization process made the application much more modular.
Angular 4
Angular 4 was released in 2017, and to avoid confusion with the naming, the team decided to skip version 3 and move directly to release version 4. This version mainly focused on improvement and bug fixes, with no significant changes.
The team promised that upgrading from Angular 2 to 4 would be seamless and backward compatible. They also introduced the concept of animations for components, making the user experience more appealing. Additionally, the team enhanced the Application Programming Interface (API) to support server-side rendering (SSR), making Angular a compelling tool for building SEO friendly applications.
Angular 5
Angular 5 was released in 2017, just six months after the release of Angular 4. This version of Angular came packed with several features – including a build optimizer, support for progressive web apps (PWA), and improvements to Angular Universal.
Angular 6
Angular 6 was released in 2018, containing several minor improvements to the framework – including improved support for service worker and web workers, the addition of the Angular Material CDK (Component Dev Kit), and support for Angular Elements. Developers also noted improvements to the build and deploy process, making it faster and more efficient.
Angular 7
Angular 7, released in 2018, brought new features aimed at improving the framework’s performance. The version 7 of the framework featured improved lazy loading, better workspace support, and update to RxJS (a library for reactive programming) operators.
Angular 8
Angular 8 was released in 2019, and the major focus was on improving the performance of the framework. The Ivy engine was the significant improvement made to Angular 8. Ivy was a step forward to make Angular faster by reducing the bundle size of an application that leads to better performance, faster onboarding for the developers, and better compatibility with Angular libraries.
Angular 9
Angular 9 was released in 2020, and a new Angular Ivy engine was enabled by default. The new Ivy engine targeted to reduce the size of the final app bundle, reduce compilation times, and enhance the component testability.
Angular 10
Angular 10 was released in 2020, building on the update to Ivy that Angular 9 offered. Angular 10 brought significant performance improvements to the framework with big updates to CLI, updates to Angular Material, and a new date range picker component.
Angular 11
In 2020, Angular 11 was released, with increased performance and speed improvements. Developers incorporated an updated patch system that allowed for a vastly faster and accurate update process of dependencies within the application at scale.
Angular 12
The most recent version of Angular is Angular 12, which was released in May 2021. Angular 12 focuses on bringing additional performance improvements, better experimentation for developers, and enhancements for Teamwork.
FAQs
What is Angular?
Angular is a client-side framework specializing in building website and web application SPA’s.
What are the significant differences between AngularJS and Angular 2+?
AngularJS utilizes JavaScript for programming, while Angular used TypeScript. However, some of the significant differences include the introduction of components, modules, decrease in bundle size, and enhancement of server-side rendering in Angular 2+.
What are Angular Elements?
Angular Elements allow you to transform Angular components into custom elements, which enable developers to reuse their codes and utilize them in other frameworks easily.
What are some advantages of using Angular?
Angular is straightforward to learn and easy to use, has a powerful framework that enables developers to build scalable and robust applications that are more organized, easy to modify, and straightforward to test. Additionally, Angular is highly customizable and allows developers to build applications that meet client needs.
Conclusion
Angular has undergone several updates over the years, but the ultimate goal remains the same; to enable developers to create responsive and dynamic single-page applications. With several performance enhancements in each update and a supportive community, developers can efficiently work with the framework and create better applications. By leveraging the capabilities of the newest version of Angular – version 12, developers can build robust and highly scalable web applications that meet their customers’ needs.