Making that decision about AngularJS or Knockout

This isn't the first post comparing these two libraries so I'm going to take a different take on this. I want to compare how viable each of these is to apply to a new or existing project.

Why this post title is wrong

 Firstly it’s not as clear cut as comparing one to the other. These two libraries are very different and Knockout is just a small part of what AngularJS does. If you want to compare an equivalent compare AngularJS to Durandal. This is a more complete solution for to compete with AngularJS.

http://www.johnpapa.net/compare-durandal-to-angular-not-knockout-to-angular/.

The history

I was working on one of our legacy projects which only support IE, god help me. The time had come for us to upgrade this solution, after all people use other browser now. The main route of the problem was our old legacy system used XML Data Islands. Most of you will not have used this; I had never used it to working on this solution. Basically the concept of these DataIslands was actually really good. First you define you object in XML and then you bind the XML to the HTML using inline attributes on the HTML, sound familiar.

If you are also in the position that you need to migrate away from DataIslands I suggest you also looking at XML2JSON. This library allows you to move to using something like Knockout without the need of rewriting your backend. It’s only an interim solution but a great way to move forward when the budget doesn't allow.

Comparing Data Binding

I'm only in my first 6 months of using these libraries so this is an early comparison. We started to use Knockout, being a Microsoft development team this come naturally. Problem happened when I head that Google had something similar. I had to know what they were doing; most of us can accept that Google lead web development.

I started to compare these two solutions, for binding only. In all honestly when it comes to binding it’s hard to find a failure in either of these libraries. However I did find a few things easier and this is likely just down to our project.

Structuring your code

It's often one of the hardest things to decide with a new project "how will I structure my files" is a common comment on new projects. With AngularJS this is somewhat removed from your decision making. AngularJS suggest/forces good practice for structure of objects and files. This in its self is a great thing. The problem comes when you have a 10 year old solution. Changing files here just isn't possible; the regression test alone would blow the budget. If working on a Greenfield project I can see the benefit of this as a starting point.

Syntax

Knockout syntax is great and simple if you are used to XML Data Binding you pretty much can find a like for like syntax. Although templating is altogether a different thing. If you again have a Greenfield or never used binding before project then why learn Knockout when you can learn AngularJS. Both these libraries have great and ever improving documentation so you don't need to worry about the learning side.

AngularJS also has some neat syntax that can help make life easier. Take for example the filter and sorting options when templating. These really can add great functionality to your code for little effort. I'm yet to see an ability to sort in Knockout, although I have seen attempts at this on various boards.

Conclusion

Knockout is a great tool but go for Angular unless you are migrating from some older form of data binding. For my project I have gone with Knockout but on our new projects we are using AngularJS. It’s a difficult choice.

I will keep you updated on how the project continues and our final result. As the project continues we will face more unforeseen challenges.

References:

http://angularjs.org/

http://knockoutjs.com/

http://blog.nebithi.com/knockoutjs-vs-angularjs/

Some simple angular examples to get you going:

http://tomharris.net/test/angularJS