Hire the Top 3% of Freelance AngularJS Developers

Soaring Web Development Market Boosts the Need for High-caliber AngularJS Engineers

The web development services market, encompassing the design and coding of websites, reached a value of $42.2 billion in the US in 2023, reflecting much faster growth than the overall technology sector. Accordingly, employment of web developers is projected to increase by 16% (compared to an average occupation growth rate of 3%). AngularJS (and Angular 2) are open-source JavaScript/TypeScript frameworks that are a common choice for single-page web applications (SPAs) and mobile applications. (Note: AngularJS is the same as Angular version 1, and the official guidance is to migrate to version 2+ since AngularJS is no longer supported by Google.)

Nowadays, many web developers start by learning front-end tools such as React or Vue instead of an older framework like AngularJS. As a result, searching for top AngularJS developers for hire can be challenging, and you must take care in selecting the right engineer for your company.

AngularJS expertise is rooted in a deep knowledge of JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, CSS, and other front-end technologies. In this guide, we outline necessary skills, job description tips, and sample interview questions that will support your search for experienced AngularJS developers who will help you reach your business objectives.

What Attributes Distinguish Quality AngularJS Developers From Others?

A non-engineer hiring manager or technical recruiter may wonder “What does an AngularJS developer do?” AngularJS programmers work on all aspects of front-end development and should be adept in the following areas:

• UI/UX – Implementing new features and interactive functionalities is one of the most time-intensive aspects of a front-end engineer’s job. It involves close collaboration with designers and project managers to ensure a seamless user experience.
• APIs and Connectivity – To make an app fully operational, front-end engineers also facilitate connectivity across application services using APIs. APIs provide persistence and centralization to an app’s functionalities.
• Unit Testing – Front-end developers implement unit tests to verify that each code section performs as expected. Unit testing reduces costs and prevents bugs, which helps retain users once an app moves into production. Dedicated AngularJS developers commonly use Jasmine, Karma, Mocha, and Siesta.
• End-to-End Testing – End-to-end (e2e) testing is the final component in ensuring that applications behave as intended. Front-end engineers use e2e tests to ensure that the correct data flow is maintained during user tasks and processes. Some of the e2e testing tools available to AngularJS engineers include Cypress, Nightwatch, and WebdriverIO.

As you begin your search, identify candidates with extensive experience across these areas, with skill sets that include front-end technology (e.g., JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, and CSS), unit testing frameworks, and e2e testing tools.

Note: Pay special attention to developers’ mastery of standard UI frameworks, especially ones that are commonly used when building AngularJS apps. At the very least, you should expect AngularJS experts to have familiarity with Bootstrap, Tailwind CSS, and Angular Material, in addition to AngularJS Directives, which extend the power of HTML.

After verifying front-end expertise, you should assess developers’ mastery of how AngularJS works behind the scenes. AngularJS engineers of all experience levels should be able to articulate how the most critical aspects of an AngularJS application work together. They should also be familiar with the various technologies and methodologies required for app development, including the popular MVC design pattern.

AngularJS developers should be well-versed in a multitude of technologies:

• HTML and CSS – AngularJS templates are written in HTML, and styles are written in CSS. To successfully build and debug views, candidates should understand basic HTML and CSS concepts like flexboxes, variables, spans, divs, and attributes. Web developers may prefer to work with a CSS extension language like Sass for improved syntax, added functionality, and reduced development time.
• JavaScript and TypeScript – AngularJS is written in TypeScript, a strongly typed superset of JavaScript. Since these languages code the primary application logic, TypeScript and JavaScript are essential technical skills for an AngularJS developer. Look for solid experience with both languages, including design patterns such as dependency injection.
• RxJS – RxJS (Reactive Extensions for JavaScript) is a programming library that provides observable streams and is commonly used with AngularJS for tasks like HTTP requests. It facilitates asynchronous and event-based programs, so if your app requires either of these functionalities, you’ll want a candidate familiar with RxJS.

Aside from using AngularJS and its foundational languages and libraries, engineers will also interact with supplementary technologies such as:

• Source control technologies manage codebase changes and preserve previous working versions of code. Developers should be familiar with standard tools such as Git and GitHub.
• Package managers install web application development packages—both AngularJS itself and other libraries that may be required. Many AngularJS engineers work with npm, for example.
• Command-line interface tools provide functionality for the development of AngularJS applications from a command shell. Look for candidates trained in AngularJS CLI, the standard choice for AngularJS development.

Modern engineers must have technical expertise in many skills, and this is especially true when seeking front-end or AngularJS development services. While AngularJS is used to build an application’s front end, it may be useful for a developer to be familiar with the back-end technologies of your project’s tech stack, as well (e.g., Java, Node.js, AWS).

Moreover, AngularJS programmers possess various soft skills to round out their technical abilities. During web app development, they need strong communication skills to negotiate project requirements with back-end engineers and other stakeholders. Onboarding becomes easier when managing an expert who stays up to date with the latest technologies and focuses on continuous learning.

How Can You Identify the Ideal AngularJS Developer for You?

To identify the developer best suited to your website, you must consider what stage of development your app is in and how much training your budget and resources allow.

First, if you have an existing development team and plan to add new dynamic web app features or focus on maintenance services (e.g., fixing bugs), junior developers will often suffice—and offer more affordable pricing. However, certain project goals will mandate the hiring of more senior developers who have five or more years of experience. Such goals may include:

• Analyzing and removing performance bottlenecks (e.g., change detection or implementing pipes).
• Making big-picture infrastructure or design decisions (e.g., launching a complex high-performance application from scratch).
• Implementing ideation and training around team standards (e.g., setting best practices on testing and code quality).

Developers at this level should have additional cutting-edge skills beyond front-end and AngularJS app foundations. Search for candidates with a track record in application life-cycle management, high-level code design, advanced reactive programming and observables, application state management, and team management or coaching.

AngularJS Versus React

You may be curious whether your development project requires that you hire dedicated AngularJS developers or if an engineer with related front-end skills or experience in other popular frameworks or libraries, such as React, can successfully work on your app.

The main difference between these two front-end technologies is that React (also known as ReactJS) is a library, while AngularJS is a full-fledged framework. In other words, React offers more flexibility than AngularJS, but AngularJS is a more comprehensive tool. Your decision to hire an AngularJS developer versus a React developer depends on your business requirements. Many React skills offer a solid foundation for AngularJS concepts, so a strong React developer may be a suitable candidate for particular projects. React developers may understand basic AngularJS concepts but will not know all the nuances of its features—so you’ll need to budget for an initial training period.

How to Write an AngularJS Job Description for Your Project

In addition to HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, AngularJS job descriptions should mention TypeScript as a mandatory skill and require significant front-end experience in building user interfaces (UIs), interacting with APIs, and testing.

You may customize your developer requirements based on your application, team size, development needs, and project complexity. Based on your use case, you should list other developer qualities, such as experience with performance optimization, libraries (e.g., RxJS), or testing frameworks (e.g., Jasmine, Jest, Cypress).

Finally, indicate whether you plan to hire an AngularJS developer full-time or as a part-time freelancer. Regardless, you’ll want to verify that your new engineer can align with your team’s working time zones.

What Are the Most Important AngularJS Interview Questions?

When assessing AngularJS developer skills during the interview portion of the hiring process, not all questions need to focus on AngularJS-specific topics. Asking generally about front-end development can be illuminating too.

You may start with questions testing developers’ front-end expertise, covering key areas such as code design and testing:

When working on application architecture, how do you design your code?

There is no single correct answer here. Instead, you should get a sense of a candidate’s development process from their answer. They should consider a variety of factors:

• Code organization and requirements for new libraries or modules.
• Code reusability.
• Structure of the business logic and state.

Assess candidates’ answers to determine how thoroughly they plan their designs.

What is the difference between unit tests and end-to-end tests?

Unit tests are focused tests that run on small pieces of code to verify behavior and prevent bugs. Writing and executing unit tests can be done quickly, and applications will typically have many unit tests across multiple app surfaces. End-to-end tests, on the other hand, simulate user scenarios and verify app data flows. They are more comprehensive than unit tests and require more time to execute. AngularJS can pair with unit testing tools like Jasmine, Karma, Jest, and Mocha, and end-to-end testing tools like Protractor, Cypress, Nightwatch, and WebdriverIO. Experienced candidates will be able to discuss testing, as well as the entire software development life cycle.

Next, to ensure developers have adequate high-level knowledge of AngularJS apps, test their understanding of how AngularJS applications work:

What are the most critical aspects of an AngularJS application?

Candidates should describe the following basic concepts—you may probe for specifics if needed:

• Components – AngularJS uses a component-based architecture, with each component translating into the user interface elements seen on a webpage. In code, each AngularJS component corresponds to a class that defines its functionality and an HTML template that defines its view. By default, AngularJS applications have at least one component, the root component. This piece helps the application start by linking the component hierarchy to the page document object model (DOM).
• NgModules – NgModules are the functional units of code that make up an AngularJS application. An AngularJS app is like a puzzle where each piece (or module) works together to deliver the complete picture (or app functionality). Modules organize related code and may include workflows, features, pipes, or services. Components are also grouped into NgModules. Angular’s root module (AppModule) is essential to any application, providing bootstrapping and launching the app. Simple apps may only require the root module, but additional feature modules are necessary to support more complex applications.
• Services – Services are classes that organize reusable business logic that is outside of the scope of specific views. In other words, services offer functionality that can be shared across components via dependencies. The Router is an important example of an AngularJS service; it facilitates in-browser navigation among different application views by mapping them to paths. Using Angular’s router service in an application is as simple as importing the Router NgModule. AngularJS guards and resolvers also manage route changes and activations; familiarity with these features is a bonus.
• Index pages – On the server side, the index.html page is a single-page application’s default page that is loaded in the browser. The index.html page links the root component and module to the webpage, performing rendering.

An answer that fails to mention components, modules, services, and the index.html page indicates that the candidate is junior and may lack fundamental AngularJS knowledge.

Finally, end the interview with questions that assess a developer’s coding abilities and understanding of AngularJS features:

What life-cycle hooks are available in AngularJS?

AngularJS apps have life-cycle processes from initiation to the end of the application. The most crucial life-cycle hooks are:

• ngOnInit: called at component initialization.
• ngOnDestroy: called when the component is destroyed.
• ngOnChanges: called when an attribute changes.

Additional change detection hooks for components include ngDoCheck, ngAfterContentInit, ngAfterContentChecked, ngAfterViewInit, and ngAfterViewChecked. Developers who understand these hooks may be especially high-quality candidates.

What are AngularJS pipes, and why would you use them?

Pipes are functions that can be used in template expressions to transform output values. Pipes are declared once but used throughout an application. They can change how data appears to a user (e.g., date formatting). Using pure pipes may also boost an application’s performance. Top-notch candidates will be able to describe pipes, as well as situations where they can be used.

What strategies would you use for AngularJS state management?

There are many state management libraries to choose from, such as NgRx, Akita, and NgXs. State management may occur at the application, module, or component levels. Developers should understand the difference between these AngularJS application states.

What happens when you don’t unsubscribe from an Observable?

Failing to unsubscribe from an Observable is one common source of memory leaks. There are multiple ways to destroy an Observable and solve this issue, such as using the async pipe or annotations, or manually unsubscribing at the end of the component’s lifetime. Avoiding memory leaks should always be a consideration, because they will cause a decrease in application performance, and as a result, scalability.

Consult Toptal’s 10 Essential Web Development Interview Questions guide if you need additional resources for interview preparation.

Why Do Companies Hire AngularJS Developers?

Part-time or dedicated AngularJS developers can serve a majority of front-end needs, including web and e-commerce sites, as well as mobile apps for iOS or Android phones. AngularJS is feature-rich, has a wide range of tooling options for front-end UI and testing, is supported by Google, and achieves effective reactive programming.

AngularJS developers serve larger projects well, due to the framework’s scalable architecture and modular organization, as well as its library offerings. Companies benefit from the standardized structure and decoupled components of AngularJS, which allow for fast web and mobile app development speeds, straightforward testing, and maintainable code. Also, keeping an app codebase up to date is simple due to Angular’s consistent release schedule.

AngularJS is also ideal for projects that will grow in the future: Startups can use it to lay the foundation of an application, so that the app can grow with the business. When you hire an AngularJS developer, you also get all the benefits of a robust ecosystem—the AngularJS framework offers strong community and educational resources, streamlining developers’ learning trajectories.

Whether you are working on a small or large application and want to hire AngularJS developers at the junior or senior level, the right expert can bring an AngularJS project to life, delivering an elegant and effective user interface. By screening candidates for front-end and AngularJS fundamentals, determining advanced skill requirements, and refining your job description and interview questions, you can identify the best fit—and eventually watch as users delight in a smooth and user-friendly website experience.

The technical content presented in this article was reviewed by Vojtech Machacek.