AngularDart: Best of both worlds

The different “language flavors” of Angular 2 used to be written as TypeScript source, only to be automatically compiled to JavaScript and Dart. That is not the case anymore: the Angular 2 codebase will now have a TypeScript/JavaScript version and a Dart version, along with an AngularDart team.

#AngularDart is going all Dart: more idiomatic, more powerful, faster.https://t.co/LpS4xFHPA9 pic.twitter.com/t6FR2re0Ji

— Google’s Dart Team (@dart_lang) 20. Juli 2016

What does it mean for Dart developers?

Filip Hracek, Program Manager in the Dart team, announced that the move is “amazing news” for Dart developers because the Angular Dart source code will be more Dart-y, faster, cleaner and it will use Dart features which previously didn’t work with TypeScript flavor.

For TypeScript and JavaScript developers, performance gains and cleaner JavaScript APIs are in the cards. Naomi Black, a team lead on Angular, revealed that the decision to split the Angular 2 codebase into two flavors will not lead to dramatic changes for developers, except that it will now be easier to contribute changes and the team will be able to fix issues faster. Although both the Dart version and the TypeScript/JavaScript version will share the same template syntax and, “where appropriate, the same API,” they will have the freedom to submit pull requests in the language they prefer. Plus, “changes can be made and reviewed without the added burdens of compilation and cross-compatibility to downstream languages,” Black added.

Take AngularDart for a ride

angular2 2.0.0-beta.18 can be found on the pub site. For those who already use AngularDart in their projects, they can use pub upgrade to get the latest version.

SEE ALSO: 5 arguments for the success of Dart

Moving full steam ahead

It wasn’t long ago that Dart launched its 1.17 version. The team’s goal was to make sure Dart is “even more productive for developers,” which is why they have optimized their core tools deal with large applications and have seen significant improvement over the last two releases. One of the strengths of Dart 1.17 is the increased stability of Dartium; the speed of the Dart Analyzer has been improved by over 200 percent on large codebases.

Plus, Dartium startup time on large applications at Google has improved by a factor of 4.