When will AngularJS surpass jQuery?

A question often asked by newbies to the web is "Which framework should I use?" But there is no 'right' answer to this question, and the main discussion is usually about the difference between AngularJS and jQuery. But comparing them is in some ways like comparing apples to oranges. For a web application, there is no clear reason to use a major web framework. Here are some scenarios where AngularJS is preferred over jQuery.

When DOM manipulation is secondary

jQuery is primarily focused on DOM scanning and manipulation. A common example is to add and modify DOM elements through user operations, such as adding the results returned by AJAX to an existing DIV through pre-processed HTML. But with AngularJS, the focus of development is on data presentation. With two-way data binding, data updates are done automatically without the need to delete and rebuild the DOM. While it's impossible to completely avoid DOM manipulation, you only have to deal with fewer DOM manipulations with AngularJS than with just jQuery.

When focusing on efficiency

Although AngularJS is a bit difficult to learn, it is highly efficient for developers. Many features of AngularJS are focused on improving developer productivity. For example, there is built-in extension support for unit testing. Test-focused features simplify unit testing, allowing developers to focus on producing more robust and reliable code. In addition, by decoupling DOM operations from program logic, developers can focus on "why" rather than "how". Typically, this results in short but stable and easy-to-debug code.

When using descriptive interfaces

The problem often encountered when using jQuery is that it uses imperative programming. To put it more thoroughly, it tells the computer how to achieve the goal. The result of this process is you desired result. However, descriptive programming is the opposite. It tells the computer the results you want and lets the computer figure out how to achieve it. JavaScript is generally designed with an imperative approach, while HTML - and the directives AngularJS adds to HTML - are designed specifically for descriptive programming. If you use AngularJS to program, you end up using descriptive programming, which is more in line with the original design intent of HTML - that is, telling the computer what you want to display, and then letting the computer handle the specific details. If this programming method is adopted, the number of lines of code required to complete specific tasks will be greatly reduced. Such code will be more readable and easier to maintain.

Conclusion

As mentioned above, AngularJS and jQuery are not comparable in many aspects. The two frameworks have different design goals and solve different problems. That being said, there has been a huge increase in developer productivity for developing applications that are focused on data display and maintenance rather than data analysis, and AngularJS is much better than jQuery in these areas. Which framework you ultimately choose is determined by many factors related to the capabilities of your organization and the core components of the tool you use. However, in any case, AngularJS is the best choice to increase the productivity of Internet application developers and reduce maintenance costs.