Is React more popular or is it easier to pick up for front-end applications?
There are many libraries/frameworks from which to choose. In view engines, the major contenders are React and Angular, and a small cultish following of Vue. They each have their strengths and weaknesses.
FCC is a non-profit created by volunteers. They cannot create programs for every aspect of web development so they chose to focus on certain complementary technologies, specifically the MERN stack. Perhaps in the future an Angular section will be created, but there isn’t one now.
Is React better than Angular or easier to learn? I suppose you might argue that it’s a little easier to learn because it’s a modular library rather than a framework. Is it better? It depends on who you ask. They are both extremely popular and are both high on the list of in demand view libraries/frameworks.
I would also content that it doesn’t necessarily matter the specifics which are taught. Every dev job will require different technologies. Ultimately, what we are doing at FCC is learning how to learn. A huge part of that is developing a foundational understanding of JS, HTML, CSS, and CS topics. Once you learn how to work with those tools, then picking up new tools like Angular is not a difficult task.
Does that make sense?
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FCC originally advised learning AngularJS. I swear there was a “Why we ditched Angular in Favor of React” article, but I can’t find it.
Supposedly it is addressed in this video but I haven’t watched it.
Piggybacking on what @amille12 said, which one you choose to learn doesn’t matter a ton. (Arguably, which one you choose to use doesn’t matter that much either.) Professional programmers get pretty blase about having to pick up a new language, never mind a framework or library. Once you’ve proven that you can learn it, the rest is details.
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From this ancient tomb:
Why React.js over Angular.js?
Though Angular.js still enjoys strong demand from employers, it’s clear that React.js is slowly taking its place.
Wordpress — which powers 25% of the internet — decided to go with React.js over Angular.js. This is just the latest signal of React.js’s increasing importance and staying power.
Last I saw, Angular was slowly catching up to React in the job postings, but that may have been a fever dream. Still, React is awesome, easier to learn (if only because you don’t need TypeScript), and applicable to projects of different sizes, so campers can use it in their portfolios (Angular is heavy and better suited to large code bases). Also, React happens to be the technology behind FreeCodeCamp itself, so all the more campers who can contribute.
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