Ionic now and then has been instrumental in the development of some amazing apps. In fact, it is the most popular cross-platform technology for mobile app development. It has stimulated many enterprises since its introduction on this challenging domain. It was peddled as a revolutionary and robust HTML5 framework for developers. However, despite its functionalities and features, Ionic development was plagued by its reliance on Angular 2. Though, there is ample community support to assist whenever you get stuck.
Then, Ionic 2 entered as a refreshing new version of this popular framework inculcating several astonishing modifications. Currently, this iteration is in beta stage and undergoing massive improvisations. Essentially, every new technology is an improved version of its predecessor. Ionic 2 followed the suite and came across as a technology you can count on. Here, we have compared these two versions on several parameters.
Architecture:
As compared to Ionic 1 app development, the advanced version 2 of this framework is fueled by a clean and well-organized structure for developing modular features. It allows each component to have a separate folder encompassing its own template, class, and style files. This feature wasn’t available as a default in version 1. It is much more scalable and justifies the development process through the best practices.
Difference in Navigation:
Ionic 1 defines navigation by using URLs and you can activate these components by linking to these URLs. However, V2 has a more sensible and native approach. It allows expediting a page or component on navigation stack for developing the existing page. At the same time, you can remove a page from the navigation stack by using the Pop function. This takes user back to the previous page. It brings more consistency and flexibility in the development of complex structures.
Effective Tools:
The automation tools integrated into Ionic 2 undoubtedly gives it an edge on other frameworks. It can be efficiently used for automated generation of components, directives, pages, tabs, etc. Also, this framework can build the required files and even the boiler code plates for the developers looking to ease out their job. It can automatically create files and folders when the command is run over Ionic CLI. These files will be loaded with some basic codes. This feature of Ionic 2 makes it notches better than the version 1. It can execute many commands and enable an accelerated development.
Programming Language:
If you are wary of the framework-related jargons used in the earlier version, the concept of Ionic 2 app development may sound young. It is based on the effective old JavaScript using TypeScript or ES6 code. TypeScript is a new methodology in JavaScript built with a lot of intriguing functionalities for app development. In addition, it is the new JavaScript. Hence, principles applied on the code, goes in a similar manner for any JavaScript-based development.
Syntax for Template:
In both the versions, the template syntax is more or less similar. The only difference monitored is the concise and precise syntax when compared to Ionic 1. It allows easy changing of click handler for any preferred event. On many counts, the template syntax of V2 is much better than its precursor. This makes it more simple and clear.
Code Creation:
When working on Ionic 2, all the codes will be automatically built inside the app folder. Usually, the codes are saved in www folder that is linked to the browser. However, V2 works as a transpiler that facilitates usage of the source code of one language for creating an equivalent source code in different language. Hence, the code can be packed in a single JavaScript to be copied to a www folder without affecting the index.html file. Debugging becomes tad difficult here. Hence, Ionic 1 can be an endorsed choice on this parameter.
Syntax from ES6:
As a matter of fact, ES6 offers an absolutely effective syntax. Though this syntax is not supported by most of the browsers yet Ionic 2 allows transpiling of code into a valid ES5 code. Apart from being cleaner, the code allows maintaining the parent scope without using additional variables. So, whatever references will be made, they’ll correspond to the parent function.
Conclusion:
Quite evidently, Ionic 2 is a clear winner on all these parameters. It is the latest technology. Hence, it is steadily gaining momentum and is evolving with innovative developments. So, a switch can be made to this technology if you are currently using Ionic 1. However, if the app has to be released on the priority, stick to Ionic 1 because bugs may challenge for V2. However, if you are starting afresh or the app has ample time before launch, you must build it on Ionic 2 without any strand of doubt.
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