Web designing has been going through several changes ever since its inception and has come incredibly far from what used to be dull static web pages and primitive server-side interfaces. Today, we will talk about the Angular JS Performance Tuning Tips in detail.
Designing a dynamic and interactive client-side was certainly a turning point in the world of the Internet and the credit goes to JavaScript for starting this revolution.
Incorporating the dynamic components moreover was a time-consuming affair. A Leading AngularJS Development Company can help you to design such a fine front-end with ease.
To make it simple, frameworks were released which would bring a proper programming structure and provide component packages that could be incorporated easily.
Angularjs Performance Tuning Tips
Digest Cycle
AngularJS Framework provides AngularJS watch which keeps track of the variables in the different scope and the changes in the variables thereby updating the DOM. Angular Watch Performance can be a crucial aspect.
A digest cycle is triggered every time there is a change in the variable leading to a change in the DOM. A shorter digest cycle implies that the program changes are being monitored at a faster rate. Therefore, the shorter the cycle, the faster the page works.
Limit Watchers
Any data bindings in AngularJS leads to the Framework creating watchers to monitor the variables. We can use the watch count extension by Angular to count the number of watchers running.
Usually, the system runs better if the number of watchers is less than in 2000. More watchers and variable scopes increase the digest cycle which in turn slows down the performance.
So the programming must be done following this agenda to keep the number of watchers at the minimum.
Use One-Time Binding
AngularJS provides a way to bind the object to the data only once. For this, we can use a double-colon before the value. In one-time binding, the data from the object is passed to the UI only once.
There is no update mechanism for such data. This is best for the data that doesn’t have to change with time and is loaded only one. One-time data binding increases the performance notably. SO, this is one of the finest Angularjs Performance Tips.
Use scope.$evalAsync
At times, the need for initiating the digest cycle manually might arise. This could throw an error in case the digest cycle is already running and the ongoing instance is off.
scope.$evalAsync, in this case, helps in queuing the operations at the end of the ongoing cycle instead of $apply which tried to activate the digest cycle without waiting for the ongoing cycle to end.
Use Chrome DevTools Profiler
Google Chrome is one of the most popular browsers not only for people willing to browse the internet but also for developers. Chrome DevTools are authoring and debugging tools that allow deep access to web applications.
These tools efficiently used to test the website for bugs, or even incorporate new codes and check the website on the go. They are quite powerful tools to inspect the Angular JS Performance.
Limit DOM Access
The DOM in general terms represents the entire page built upon documents and data. One can manipulate the documents after accessing the DOM, carelessness in these phases can ruin the DOM structure and the nodes, which can prove very costly.
Therefore, you should access DOM only when necessary. Also, keep the DOM tree small to keep the complications in check.
Disable CSS Class & Comment Directives
CSS class consumes space and unnecessary use of CSS class can take a huge toll on the overall application performance. A directive designated as an element, attribute, or a CSS class or comments.
However, when there is no use of CSS class or Comments in the application program, it is best to turn them off to enhance the Angular JS Performance.
Disable Debug Data
Debugging is a crucial part of any programming process involving the resolution of inconsistencies and mistakes in the program. In several instances, there is extra data in the program after debugging.
Even if there isn’t any use of the data, apart from occupying space, it tends to slow down the application performance as it can hinder the working of debugging tools like Batarang and Protractor.
So, when you’re using AngularJS For Web Application Development, keep this tip in mind.
Use Lodash
Lodash makes it easier for programmers to work with JavaScript, making it easy to work with strings, arrays, objects, and other data types.
Lodash provides great modular methods for iterating through arrays, objects, and strings, manipulating and testing values, creating composite functions.
Use its method to modify the codes at a considerably faster pace while increasing Angular JS Performance.
Use ng-if or ng-switch instead of ng-show
Conditionals play an important part in every programming language. So is the case while working with AngularJS as well.
We use ng-show to check the given condition and show or hide the CSS display for that element. Ng-if, on the other hand, manipulates a statement based on one condition, and ng-switch used in case of multiple conditions.
The programmer must use ng-if and ng-switch to remove an element from the DOM, it is not an easy task to accomplish, thus hire angularjs developers for a hassle-free process.
Avoid ng-repeat If Possible
The ng-repeat directive repeatedly iterates through a set of HTML code several times as per the number of items in the collection, where the collection is an array or an object.
Each instance of the repetition provided with a unique scope that consists of the current item in the collection. In a case where you need a large number of repetitions, there’s hindering in the performance.
Use $watchCollection#
The $watch() function in AngularJS is to watch the variable changes in the $scope. The parameters used in the $watch are the variables that need to be monitored.
More than two parameters make the AngularJS Frameworks start deep checking the variables thereby slowing down the application performance. Using $watchCollection only checks the first line of the objects working as a third parameter.
This way it doesn’t eat away resources unnecessarily and the performance remains intact.
Use $cacheFactory#
In several instances, you might need to look into the data dynamically loaded and needed to make important calculations.
In such cases, you can always use $cacheFactory to store the data dynamically loaded and doesn’t change with time. $cacheFactory can efficiently store such data and it works just like any other memorization method.
Use console.time
Console.time is to measure the time taken to execute a particular operation in the program. A unique name assigned the console.time() timer, and the tracking ended by using console.timeEnd().
The ending code stops the timer and displays the time taken to execute the section of code between the timer instance.
This can be very beneficial during the process of debugging, where one can monitor the execution time to determine if the portion of the code is exhibiting normal behavior or not.
Debounce ng-model
In AngularJS, as soon as you input new data using the ng-model, the $digest cycle triggers and all the watchers and bindings update to monitor the changes in the variables which unnecessarily make the system to process stuff.
The debounce feature introduced in the Angular 1.3 can be used with ng-model-options, which delays the digest cycle until a specified amount of time until the input process is complete.
Use $filter
During a digest cycle in the AngularJS, the Framework does two things- first is to check whether there are any changes in the DOM, and next is to update the variables. For this, the Framework runs DOM filters twice per digest cycle.
Instead of having to run the DOM filter twice, we can use $filter to preprocess the data to avoid its DOM parsing process.
Tight Scoping
In JavaScript, the garbage collector scans through the code and tries to collect the memory of the objects that will never be accessed or manipulated again by the application.
In such cases, the useful variables not affected by the garbage collector, it is best to keep the variables tightly scope. Solving such Angularjs Performance Issues are vital.
Pagination or Infinite Scrolling
One more method of increasing the performance, or to say, avoid unnecessarily reducing it, is by reducing the number of elements that the programs loops over to run the application. There are times when certain elements looped over unnecessarily.
We can implement pagination or infinite scroll to avoid such instances. ngInfiniteScroll directive serves this purpose in AngularJS.
Batarang Tool to Benchmark Watchers
We talked about Batarang before, let us see what their purpose is this time- Batarang is a chrome extension introduced by the Angular Team which works as a debugging/development tool for Angular applications.
It has several features but mainly it is to profile and track the AngularJS performance. The watch tree, on the other hand, determines the scopes that have no destruction if there is an increase in memory.
Use Inline Array
At times when condensing the codes in AngularJS or even in the general JavaScript, the changes in the syntax render the AngularJS unable to identify the object that you need to inject to the controller.
This leads to application failure so that we conserve memory by shortening the code, to run the application properly, we use inline array annotation to inject dependent objects.
Pros and Cons of AngularJS
Although the Framework may be much sought after and utilized across the community, and by some big organizations, it doesn’t change the fact that along with all the pros, the Framework does have some cons.
Let us see the Benefits of using AngularJS.
Pros of AngularJS
Highly Versatile- AngularJS is one of the best Frameworks available to build dynamic web applications, its versatility allows it to develop almost any kind of single-page dynamic web application.
Reliant solely on JavaScript- AngularJS allows the manipulation of the front-end development and the back-end development entirely through JavaScript, unlike some other Frameworks that need the association of other languages.
Compact and Modular- AngularJS is modular by nature which makes it easy to divide the tasks of developing different components of the web-pages among people. Moreover, AngularJS works on minimal coding which makes the programs compact.
Active maintenance and support- AngularJS is actively maintained by Google and the huge online community hub for AngularJS provides ready support in case of any issues.
Cons of AngularJS
Highly opinionated- AngularJS is quite opinionated, meaning that it has its own opinion on how a program needs to be structured and therefore a considerable amount of time needs to be invested to learn the concepts of AngularJS.
Performance issues- AngularJS has been found to poorly support high traffic graphic galleries. It will be best for a website dealing with graphics that have high traffic prospects and high-performance requirements to go for some other Framework like React.
Read also: React vs Angular: Which JavaScript Framework You Should Opt For?
Security- Without proper server-side authentication and authorization, the Framework is insecure as it is completely JavaScript based.
Not degradable- It is completely reliant on JavaScript and once the user disables JavaScript-only the basic page remains and everything else disappears.
Among all the issues that AngularJS faces, performance issues are something that remains prominent.
Infrastructural requirements play a major role in deciding whether a site will be able to handle huge traffic and the servers would be able to handle enormous data.
For this purpose, certain techniques can be implemented to make sure optimal performance is maintained by the site.
Here are some tips to ensure the AngularJS program performs optimally.
AngularJS Performance Testing Tools
Protractor
Angular Team introduced Protractor and it helps automatic end-to-end testing of the application with ease. It is one of the finest Angularjs Performance Tools.
Being built on webDriverJS and Selenium servers, it inherits their features, for example, multiple tests on different browsers can be performed by using Selenium grid and so on.
WebDriverIO
WebDriverIO is an implementation of webDriver API by W3C. Testing setup using WebDriverIO is quite easy even for non-programmers to figure out using the command line.
NightWatchJS
NightWatchJS is another implementation of the webDriver API. It’s customizable and easy to extend. Moreover, it has its own testing framework however, the level of support isn’t as high as that of WebDriverIO.
TestingWhiz
TestingWhiz possessed codeless scripting features which have made it quite popular among the non-programmers. It is one of the finest Angular JS Performance tools.
Also, TestingWhiz commands are dynamic which enables it to sync with server wait times to provide accurate testing results.
Conclusion
Since the introduction of AngularJS, several frameworks have come forward- React, Ruby on Rail, Vue and so on.
AngularJS, however, remains to be one of the favorites among the community of developers. All due to its reputation as a google product, and immense community support.
Performance is a crucial factor that determines the viability of an application. Therefore there should be an extensive effort to make the Angular JS Performance better. The Better the Angular JS Performance, the higher the popularity.
What Are Some Performance Drawbacks With AngularJS?
