The Internet has grown considerably since its inception during the 1990s. Web pages have developed from containing textual and some graphic-based content to providing real-time applications that are dynamic and much more engaging. The development on the internet can be attributed to JavaScript to a great extent, and vice versa.
JavaScript was developed by Netscape in 1995. The websites during that era used to be primitive, consisting of static web pages, and dynamic pages were a huge prospect.
Since then, JavaScript has come quite far with several syntaxes based improvements and numerous libraries and frameworks. These developments have made programming with JavaScript easy and efficient.
The JavaScript frameworks are necessarily a collection of libraries that provide web developers the ability to hasten the development process by using pre-written codes from the libraries to program general features or segments.
Several JavaScript frameworks are used by developers- React, Vue, Ember, and Angular to name a few.
AngularJS is one of the most popular JavaScript frameworks. An open-source framework brought forward by Google in 2012, it is built to support the client-side development of single-page applications.
AngularJS is completely built upon JavaScript, and its libraries are based on JavaScript and HTML. AngularJS manipulates the front-end using declarative programming and the libraries automate DOM and AJAX processing.
AngularJS has a huge community of programmers who contribute to the development of libraries and tools for the framework.
This immense community hub and the variety of tools has made Angular a popular framework. Let us discuss some important Angularjs tools-
1. Webstorm
Webstorm is a powerful IDE developed by JetBrains. The Intelligent code completion feature of Webstom reduces typos, thus speeding up the programming process. It has a powerful navigation system and refactoring for JavaScript, TypeScript, and stylesheet.
Webstorm provides an interactive console. Debugging the program using Webstorm is easy, it enables the programmer to put breakpoints in the source codes, set watches, and explore the call stack and variables.
Apart from these, tool integration with the Webstorm IDE is easy and it also provides a unified UI to connect and work with different VCS.
2. Karma
Karma is a testing tool developed by the Angular team. It was developed to resolve the struggles that the Angular team faced while testing their programs.
The objective behind Karma is to set up a productive testing environment for developers where they can write the testing code and get instant feedback.
It is an open-source tool and provides environments to test programs on real devices. Testing through Karma can be done through the IDE command line and the debugging process is easy through Webstorm or Google chrome.
Moreover, Karma easily integrates with Jenkins, Semaphore, and Travis.
3. Visual Studio
Visual studio is an Angular based developing tool made by Microsoft for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems.
It enables fast programming through its intelligent editor, Intellisense which enables smart code completion for modules, variables, and function definitions. Visual Studio provides access to several emulators for local development.
Visual Studio is an open-source tool, making it free to use either for commercial or private purposes. It has an integrated GUI for Git integration and cloud connection enabling seamless collaboration, upgradation, and plugin downloads.
4. Protractor
Protractor is a testing tool built for Angular and AngularJS applications. It provides a real-time test environment as it tests the application in real browsers emulating a real user through browser-specific drivers and native events.
It is developed on top of WebDriverJS and allows Angular elements without any testing setup. It is an open-source tool, free for developers to use.
It also provides the Automatic Waiting feature which executes the testing of the next line of code as soon as the execution of the pending tasks is finished.
5. Aptana Studio
Aptana is yet another IDE for AngularJS development. Aptana aids programming for CSS, Ruby, JavaScript, PHP, HTML, and the latest HTML5.
It is a customized version of Eclipse and has an integrated debugger based on Ruby and Rails, and JavaScript. Developers can set breakpoints, inspect variables, and control execution.
Aptana provides seamless Git integration to collaborate, and share projects with team members using merge, pull, and push actions.
It is an open-source IDE that is customizable according to the development needs. Moreover, it provides a built-in terminal to access the executed command line quickly.
6. Angular IDE
Angular IDE is an IDE tool developed by CodeMix. It is a beginner-friendly IDE and also suitable for professional use. Angular IDE provides real-time validation and auto-completion of codes.
It provides an effective and customizable control panel which makes navigation accessibility to features efficient. Angular IDE has a robust debugger and provides a real-time preview of HTML and CSS codes.
Angular IDE can also be used as an Eclipse plugin. The IDE is not free, the cost of using Angular IDE is $29 per year and $5 for a monthly subscription.
7. AngularFire
AngularFire is a backend development tool for AngularJS being an officially supported binding for Firebase, which provides static website hosting for Angular apps, data and file storage, and authentication.
With AngularFire, developers can synchronize data in real-time, monitor authentication status for user log inefficiently, automatically store data offline, manipulate binary files, and a lot more.
Angular Fire is an open-source tool the features and plugins for AngularFire are available as modules. Download only the features that you require, and save time by not downloading all of them at once.
8. Djangular
Djangular is an AngularJS tool which is used to create specific content for AngularJS apps, rather than creating an entire app. The app content can be used selectively on websites.
Djangular provides ready to use modules that can be integrated with the AngularJS apps, for example, the Login module, Sign-up, or Cart module, blogs, and so on.
Djangular is an open-source tool that can be used to make project-specific content. Moreover, it provides CSRF protection, and thus provides robust security.
9. Mocha.JS
Mocha.JS is a JavaScript-based testing tool that is used for asynchronous testing of applications. It allows accurate reporting due to serial testing of codes. The testing of codes is done through an API that is based on JavaScript.
Mocha.JS is an open-source tool and provides flexible reporting on the tests. It is compatible with all the major browsers out there, and it is very easy to use and therefore it is a widely popular tool for beginners and learners.
10. Sublime Text
Sublime Text is a cross-platform source code editor developed by Sublime HQ. It supports several languages and functions for which can be added through specific plugins.
Sublime Text provides several features- Column selections and multi-select editing allows selections of multiple columns and using several cursors to enter a particular text at different lines.
It also provides auto-completion, ability to run code within the editor, ease in copying and pasting code snippets, an Auto-save feature, and a lot more.
However, Sublime Text is not free for use, the plans start at $65/ year for business use and $80/ year for personal use.
Conclusion
AngularJS is a prominent framework and these additional tools and plugins add to its developing capabilities.
While several tools that we discussed perform some similar tasks, to know the subtle differences and determine the most suitable tool, the best practice is to try them out and go with the one that suits you best.
