A detailed comparison between Blazor and Angular

Introduction

Until recently, if a C# developer wanted to build code for browsers, he or she had to depend on JavaScript, the most widely used programming language today. However, the web development industry is rapidly changing, and developers no longer need to rely on JavaScript to create high-end online apps. Blazor is making it possible to run .NET in the browser without the use of add-ons and plugins, with the help of a technique called WebAssembly.

This blog will examine the current state of Blazor, its features, and vigilance for production use, before comparing it to one of the most popular frameworks, Angular.

What is Blazor?

Blazor is a new Microsoft web framework that allows programmers to write browser code in C#. Blazor is based on well-known web technologies like HTML and CSS, but instead of JavaScript, it allows developers to use the C# and Razor syntax. For .NET, Razor is a popular template markup syntax.

Blazor (Browser + Razor) allows .NET WebAssembly-based client-side projects to have interactive and reusable UI. Just because the client and server-side code are written in C#, we can share code and libraries seamlessly to create dynamic, up-to-date single-page applications (SPAs).

The most striking part of this new technology is that Blazor WebAssembly employs the most modern web standards and does not require any additional plugins or add-ons to function.

Getting to Know WebAssembly

WebAssembly, or Wasm for short, is a new standard that can be run in modern web browsers, allowing for greater linguistic diversity on the online platform. Wasm is a low-level assembly-like language with a compact binary structure that allows us to run code written in several languages on the web with near-native performance, including C/C++, Java, and Rust.

WebAssembly’s purpose is to make it easier to build high-performance web applications. Its format, on the other hand, is intended for use in various settings and can even operate along with JavaScript.

Blazor’s characteristics

  • Enables creating web UI with C# instead of JavaScript or TypeScript.
  • Create progressive web applications (PWAs)
  • Create and use C-based reusable components.
  • On the server-side, full debugging is supported, and on the client side, debugging is limited.
  • Using the HTML DOM to tie data (limited two-way binding)“
  • In C#, we can share code between the client and the server.
  • Client-side and server-side models.
  • For better performance, use server-side rendering (also known as pre-rendering).
  • Connections via WebSockets
  • Doesn’t require internet access (client-side WebAssembly only)
  • All modern web browsers, including mobile devices, are supported.
  • The security sandbox for Blazor code is the same as for JavaScript.
  • To call JavaScript frameworks and libraries, use JavaScript interop.
  • Source code is freely available.

What is Angular?

Google introduced Angular, which is the successor of AngularJS, that allows developers to interact with both the front-end and the back-end at the same time. Because Angular is based on JavaScript, there are several resources to choose from.

Unlike Blazor, Angular is being used for a long. Many large firms use it since it is a production-ready framework with complete support for MVC/MVVM apps. On the other hand Blazor is in the evolving process despite its potential, it does not yet enogh mature to compete with Angular

Progressive web apps (PWAs) are supported by Angular, although Blazor server-side cannot be used as a PWA. With complete debugging support in IDEs like VS Code, Angular tooling is more advanced.

Angular is another popular framework. Angular has 70.2K stars and 18.4K forks on GitHub, whereas Blazor has 9.3K stars and 689 forks. There are 243,930 Angular queries on Stack Overflow, but only 4,695 on Blazor. There is also a wealth of Angular content available in the form of courses, books, blogs, videos, and other things. Angular hosts specialized tech events across the world have a large community and offer a wide range of third-party connectors.

Angular uses a great concept known as “ahead-of-time compiler (AOT)” to provide faster load times and enhanced security. Before the browser downloads and runs our Angular HTML and TypeScript code, AOT turns it into efficient JavaScript code during the build phase. When we compile our app during the construction process, it renders faster in the browser.

Scoped styles are also supported by Angular, allowing us to apply a CSS style to a single component.

This framework is designed to be highly customizable with seamless features and modules, providing the developer and designer additional power. Lazy loading, the I18n Internationalization standard for supporting local languages and cultural settings, and Ionic cross-platform mobile apps for iOS and Android are all supported by Angular.

As previously indicated, Angular developers have access to a vast pool of open-source packages, including:

  • Ignite UI for Angular
  •  Angular Google Maps
  • AngularFire
  • Angular Material
  • NgRx
  • NgTranslate
  • NgBootstrap
  • NgxTextEditor
  • Ng2 Pdf Viewer
  • and many more.

When comparing Blazor with Angular, there are a few things to keep in mind

Angular and Blazor are both open-source web frameworks. The main distinction is that Angular is built on JavaScript, whereas Blazor develops for the web using C#. The following are some important distinctions:

BlazorAngular
SSR: Server-Side RenderingCSR: Client-Side Rendering
Based on C#Based on JS(Javascript)
Still Being Worked On & ModifiedReady to go into production
Working on a Design LibraryDesign Library for the Elderly
Web UI Framework for ExperimentationDetailed JS Library for Creating User Interfaces
Compatibility with Old Browsers  Supports the most recent browsers
Bundle Size: 622kb for .NET FrameworkBundle Size: < 50KB (Ivy with gZip)
Blazor is still in its early stages of development, with a lot of code churn. We may need to work around some potential performance difficulties.With years of battle-tested deployments, Angular is now ready for production.  
Performance concerns, particularly with Blazor WebAssembly. Microsoft is still working on resolving difficulties. We anticipate considerable speed improvements in.NET 6.Because the framework is so mature, it’s more customized for performance.

Conclusion

            Both Blazor and Angular platforms have some incredible features that are incomparable. For that reason, both of these are acceptable solutions for our project. In general, it’s all comes down to a few more aspects:

  • Are we prepared to deal with some hiccups in the road with Blazor’s newer, less mature platform?
  • Are we willing to take the plunge and invest the effort to learn Angular to have access to a tried-and-true framework?
  • Are we C# developers looking for a faster path to modern web apps?
  • Are we die-hard JavaScript developers who would never consider using .NET for web development?

We feel that, regardless of whatever framework we chose, we will support both frameworks at the end of this blog.

Author Bio: Vinod Satapara – Technical Director, iFour Technolab Pvt. Ltd.

Technocrat and entrepreneur of a reputed eCommerce Solutions Company with years of experience in building large-scale enterprise web, cloud, and mobile applications using the latest technologies like ASP.NET, CORE, .NET MVC, Angular, and Blockchain. Keen interest in addressing business problems using the latest technologies and helping the organization to achieve goals.

One thought on “A detailed comparison between Blazor and Angular

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