Last Updated: December 18, 2023

Exploring Component-Based Architectures: HTML Web Components vs React Components vs Angular Components

Kaajoo Admin December 18, 2023 Tutorials

Creating a comprehensive comparison between HTML Web Components, React Components, and Angular Components involves various aspects such as syntax, features, and usage. Below is an article that provides an overview and includes a simple demo for each type of component.

Introduction:

In modern web development, component-based architectures have become a cornerstone for building scalable and maintainable applications. In this article, we'll explore three popular approaches to creating components: HTML Web Components, React Components, and Angular Components. Each approach has its strengths and use cases, and we'll compare them through practical examples.

1. HTML Web Components:

HTML Web Components are a set of web standards that enable the creation of reusable and encapsulated components. They consist of three main technologies:

Custom Elements
Shadow DOM, and
HTML Templates.

Custom Elements:

Custom Elements allow developers to define their own HTML elements with their desired behavior. Let's create a simple custom element called "my-button."

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  <title>HTML Web Components Demo</title>
</head>
<body>
  <my-button></my-button>

  <script>
    class MyButton extends HTMLElement {
      connectedCallback() {
        this.innerHTML = '<button>Click me</button>';
      }
    }

    customElements.define('my-button', MyButton);
  </script>
</body>
</html>

2. React Components:

React is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces, and its components are a fundamental part of the framework. Here's a simple React component that serves as a button:

import React from 'react';

class MyButton extends React.Component {
  render() {
    return <button>Click me</button>;
  }
}

export default MyButton;

3. Angular Components:

Angular is a full-fledged framework that uses TypeScript to build web applications. Angular components are the building blocks of Angular applications. Below is an example of an Angular component:

import { Component } from '@angular/core';

@Component({
  selector: 'app-my-button',
  template: '<button>Click me</button>',
})
export class MyButtonComponent {}

Demo:

Now, let's compare the usage of these components in a simple web page.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  <title>Component Comparison Demo</title>
</head>
<body>
  <!-- HTML Web Component -->
  <my-button></my-button>

  <!-- React Component -->
  <div id="react-root"></div>
  <script src="react.bundle.js"></script>
  <script>
    const element = React.createElement(MyButton);
    ReactDOM.render(element, document.getElementById('react-root'));
  </script>

  <!-- Angular Component -->
  <app-my-button></app-my-button>
  <script src="angular.bundle.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Conclusion:

In this article, we explored three different approaches to creating components in web development: HTML Web Components, React Components, and Angular Components. Each approach has its advantages and use cases, and the choice depends on factors such as project requirements, team expertise, and ecosystem preferences. While HTML Web Components leverage web standards, React and Angular offer powerful ecosystems with additional features like state management and routing. As a developer, understanding the strengths of each approach empowers you to choose the right tool for the job.