Toptal is a marketplace for the best AngularJS developers, engineers, programmers, coders, architects, and consultants. Top companies and startups choose Toptal AngularJS freelancers for their mission-critical web development projects.
Muhammad is a senior software engineer with several years of experience in industries ranging from the public education sector (WSU), privately owned healthcare companies (Meridian), and public Fortune 500 companies in the automotive industry (GM & AAM). Throughout his career, he’s designed web apps in HTML/CSS, developed client-side apps using JavaScript frameworks (Angular/Ionic), and used Java and C# to develop robust server-side apps.
United StatesToptal Member Since November 25, 2013
Ryan is a top architect, entrepreneur, and developer. He boasts a proven competency in building cloud-scalable, extensible software and systems. He writes code that can be maintained and expanded over time as business systems and requirements adapt to market demands or pivots in core business direction.
Patrick is a senior full-stack engineer with more than 10 years of experience developing beautiful, reliable, and scalable products. He is passionate about bringing ideas from conception to launch, working with clients of all levels of technical acumen, and building products that help companies grow.
A creative technology expert with 15+ years experience, Dennis has worked for over eight years for top ad agencies and production companies in London, UK. He makes high-end websites, digital installations and mobile apps, and he specializes in 3D, VR, and AR. He has worked for clients such as Nike, Ferrari, Fiat, Mini, EA, Disney, Unilever, and Intel, and he is the creator and lead developer of Rajawali, an open-source 3D framework for Android.
Zoran is a software engineer with over ten years of professional experience with a wide range of technologies. He has worked with C/C++, Python, Go, JavaScript, Java, and more. Currently focusing on full-stack, scalable applications development, he has been a part of teams of all sizes in environments ranging from small private companies to Google.
AngularJS developers are seasoned web engineers who maintain and migrate legacy front-end systems. This hiring guide provides the critical best practices, job description tips, and interview questions that will deliver a candidate who makes your web business thrive.
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Photo Kharma
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We needed a expert engineer who could start on our project immediately. Simanas exceeded our expectations with his work. Not having to interview and chase down an expert developer was an excellent time-saver and made everyone feel more comfortable with our choice to switch platforms to utilize a more robust language. Toptal made the process easy and convenient. Toptal is now the first place we look for expert-level help.
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Kognosi
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Ronin Play Pty Ltd
Working with Toptal has been a great experience. Prior to using them, I had spent quite some time interviewing other freelancers and wasn't finding what I needed. After engaging with Toptal, they matched me up with the perfect developer in a matter of days. The developer I'm working with not only delivers quality code, but he also makes suggestions on things that I hadn't thought of. It's clear to me that Amaury knows what he is doing. Highly recommended!
George Cheng, CEO
Bulavard, Inc.
As a Toptal qualified front-end developer, I also run my own consulting practice. When clients come to me for help filling key roles on their team, Toptal is the only place I feel comfortable recommending. Toptal's entire candidate pool is the best of the best. Toptal is the best value for money I've found in nearly half a decade of professional online work.
Ethan Brooks, CTO
Langlotz Patent & Trademark Works, Inc.
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Michael Gluckman, Data Manager
Mxit
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WhatAdsWork.com
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Greg Kimball, Co-Founder
nifti.com
How to Hire AngularJS Developers through Toptal
1
Talk to One of Our Industry Experts
A Toptal director of engineering will work with you to understand your goals, technical needs, and team dynamics.
2
Work With Hand-Selected Talent
Within days, we'll introduce you to the right AngularJS developer for your project. Average time to match is under 24 hours.
3
The Right Fit, Guaranteed
Work with your new AngularJS developer for a trial period (pay only if satisfied), ensuring they're the right fit before starting the engagement.
Find Experts With Related Skills
Access a vast pool of skilled developers in our talent network and hire the top 3% within just 48 hours.
The cost associated with hiring an AngularJS engineer depends on various factors, including company location. In the US, for example, Glassdoor’s reported average total pay for AngularJS engineers is $90,623 as of July 6, 2023.
How do I hire an AngularJS developer?
You may follow a few basic steps when hiring an AngularJS expert:
Define the services your project requires and the corresponding AngularJS candidate profile and skills you will search for.
Tailor your AngularJS job description to your business needs.
Screen and interview developers, focusing on crucial AngularJS concepts such as the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern, directives, and scope. Look for candidates who can speak to solid experience related to your project.
Note that migration projects may require a developer skilled in both Angular and AngularJS; you may want to consult additional Angular resources in these cases.
How in demand is AngularJS?
AngularJS is in high demand: almost one in 10 developers use this web framework as of 2022. And the need for AngularJS is also related to Angular’s high demand (more than one in five developers use Angular as of 2022) since developers may migrate legacy systems to Angular. These trends are congruent with the rising demand for web developers: 75% of coders are involved in web development, and the job growth rate for web developers through 2031 stands at a whopping 30% (the average occupation growth rate is 5%).
How quickly can you hire with Toptal?
Typically, you can hire an AngularJS developer with Toptal in about 48 hours. Our talent matchers are experts in the same fields they’re matching in—they’re not recruiters or HR reps. They’ll work with you to understand your goals, technical needs, and team dynamics, and match you with ideal candidates from our vetted global talent network.
Once you select your AngularJS developer, you’ll have a no-risk trial period to ensure they’re the perfect fit. Our matching process has a 98% trial-to-hire rate, so you can rest assured that you’re getting the best fit every time.
What is AngularJS and how is it different from Angular?
AngularJS is an open-source, JavaScript-based web framework used for app development—especially the development of single-page applications. It extends the syntax of HTML with custom directives that put complex code fragments into smaller reusable components. AngularJS differs from Angular, which represents later versions of the framework (v2+), in several ways. While Angular 2+ is TypeScript-based, AngularJS is JavaScript-based and uses a different architecture.
Mladen is a full-stack developer, CTO, and co-founder who has launched various web apps using Angular and other JavaScript frameworks. He has worked at multiple successful startups on a range of projects, including SaaS, streaming, news, and booking platforms. Mladen specializes in building resilient technical infrastructure, leading product and feature development, and migrating legacy codebases.
As Web Development Demand Grows, AngularJS Developers Fulfill Two Key Services
Demand for web developers is rising: 75% of coders are involved in web development, and the job growth rate for web developers through 2031 stands at a whopping 30% (the average occupation growth rate is 5%). Compared to other web engineers, AngularJS experts stand out for their essential role in achieving two specific company goals. First, they may maintain legacy systems, as almost one in 10 developers still use this web framework as of 2022. Second, they are crucial when migrating legacy systems to supported versions of Angular—the modern version of AngularJS used by more than one in five developers as of 2022.
Hiring an AngularJS engineer comes with unique challenges: Few new developers learn AngularJS because modern versions (i.e., Angular 2+) offer a similar, supported option. Since the two frameworks are not syntax compatible, you’ll need to identify more seasoned developers who have kept up their AngularJS skills—hiring strictly for Angular developers will not do. Migration projects mandate additional developer proficiency in specific Angular and AngularJS features.
Working with the AngularJS framework requires mastering JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and automated testing practices. This guide will drive your web application toward success and reduce your time-to-hire by outlining the critical skill requirements, job description tips, and interview questions to employ when you hire AngularJS developers.
What attributes distinguish quality AngularJS Developers from others?
AngularJS is primarily relevant to older applications written before newer frameworks such as Angular 2+ emerged. AngularJS programmers work on projects that have existed for years and should be experts in creating and implementing AngularJS best practices, debugging and decoupling code, and remedying security or downtime concerns.
Candidates need substantial prior experience covering all relevant AngularJS developer skills:
JavaScript – AngularJS is written in JavaScript. Since developers will code your app’s core business logic in JavaScript, candidates must have solid experience with the language.
HTML and CSS – AngularJS templates and elements are written in HTML, and styles are written in CSS. Candidates with knowledge of standard HTML and CSS concepts (e.g., flexboxes, variables, spans, divs, and attributes) will be adept at building and debugging views.
RESTful APIs – It is crucial that your app’s front end can communicate successfully with back-end REST APIs. Find a developer skilled in REST APIs to ensure connected and functional application services.
npm – Developers use npm to manage application packages and dependencies, including AngularJS, Angular, and other required libraries. Though other package managers are available, many AngularJS engineers use npm.
Most AngularJS engineers should be proficient in these core technologies, but the most adept developers will also use task automation tools and automated testing frameworks to amplify team productivity.
Regarding task automation, candidates familiar with standard options like Gulp and Grunt can speed up repetitive web development tasks such as bundling and minifying scripts and style sheets. On the side of automated testing, developers should be familiar with Protractor for end-to-end testing and Jasmine or Karma for unit testing.
How can you identify the ideal AngularJS Developer for you?
Whether you plan to use AngularJS for the maintenance or migration of legacy systems, you should hire developers who are senior in their career and are prepared to work with an older, existing codebase. While general front-end developers may fulfill roles specific to other web frameworks, AngularJS roles require AngularJS specialists with considerable experience.
One hiring consideration dependent on your project requirements is the need for expertise across different versions of AngularJS. Due to their similar-sounding names, it is easy to mix up AngularJS (versions before v2) with Angular (versions v2 and later). But AngularJS is JavaScript-based, while Angular 2+ is TypeScript-based. And Angular 2 heavily modified AngularJS and uses different concepts (e.g., components instead of directives).
Therefore, if you are looking for AngularJS engineers to maintain an existing app, you’ll want candidates with AngularJS experience instead of Angular developers (i.e., those only versed in Angular 2+). However, if you plan to migrate your AngularJS application to Angular, you’ll likely want an engineer who has mastered all versions of AngularJS/Angular. You should screen a candidate for both AngularJS and Angular expertise; you may wish to consult our hiring guide for Angular programmers for additional developer requirements.
How to Write an AngularJS Job Description for Your Project
To create a focused job description, you’ll want to define the problems you hope to solve with AngularJS:
Scenario
Developer Requirements
You have a regulatory, business, or other obligation to use AngularJS in your existing project and want to maintain the legacy codebase.
Search for a seasoned developer with solid experience implementing and setting AngularJS best practices. This senior engineer should be particularly knowledgeable about fixing security vulnerabilities, downtime, and crashes because AngularJS is unsupported as of 2022. Alternatively, consider paying for extended long-term support if you cannot find a developer with enough advanced experience.
You are migrating an AngularJS project to Angular, modernizing your web app so it is fully supported.
Target an engineer proficient in both AngularJS and Angular who specializes in writing modular, maintainable code. Look for senior migration experts; candidates should have experience using the Angular ngUpgrade library and developing web apps that closely follow the AngularJS style guide.
What are the most important AngularJS interview questions?
At the interview, assess candidates’ technical skills and professional experience related to AngularJS projects (and potentially Angular applications), and verify that they are prepared to handle situations related to your business needs.
Start by allotting time to address AngularJS fundamentals, ensuring that developers conceptually understand how AngularJS applications work:
How do the different parts of an AngularJS application work together?
Developers should demonstrate a mastery of the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern used by AngularJS and touch on the core elements that make up an AngularJS application:
Directive – Applies behavior to HTML elements in a reusable manner; these are the equivalent of components in Angular or React.
Scope – Stores application values (the app model) to be accessed by directives and other elements.
Controller – Controls application data and behavior using the scope; a controller is a JavaScript object defined by an ng-controller directive.
Injector – Retrieves object instances and acts as the dependency injection container; AngularJS apps have a single injector that looks up instances by name.
Filter – Formats expression values displayed to users; AngularJS provides built-in filters (e.g., applying lowercase or uppercase formatting) and the option to create custom filters.
Service – Consists of reusable business logic not specific to a view for use across an application; service factory functions can define HTTP interceptors for use in RESTful API calls (e.g., global error handling or other request pre-processing or response post-processing).
Module – Contains application elements such as directives, filters, services, and more.
An answer that fails to address these concepts or other basic AngularJS functionalities indicates that the candidate is junior or new to AngularJS concepts and may not be a good fit for AngularJS projects.
Seasoned AngularJS experts should also avoid the pitfalls of common AngularJS mistakes, such as those related to scope, the Document Object Model (DOM), or routing:
What is the AngularJS root scope, and why is it important?
The root scope object is the parent of all scope objects in an AngularJS web application. In other words, AngularJS apps have one root scope and multiple child scopes that prototypically inherit from their parents.
Since scopes represent the application model and can propagate or check for model changes, developers must work well with scopes and understand their structure, event propagation, and lifecycle.
How do digest cycles work in AngularJS? Do you call the digest method directly?
The digest method compares scope models to their previous values; it processes watchers on a scope. The digest method keeps executing until no more watcher listeners fire. Due to this functionality, it is possible to get trapped in infinite digest loops, and developers should be careful when using many watchers.
The digest method is typically not called directly; developers should use the “apply” method, which invokes the digest method. However, specific scenarios may require calling the digest method—for example, engineers may do this when unit testing.
What is a common performance optimization tweak related to the DOM?
Disabling debug data in AngularJS prevents the accessing of scope through the DOM. The debugInfoEnabled setting is set to true by default. Though tools such as Protractor (for testing) may need to access debug information, you can update the setting and set it to “false” in production for optimal performance.
How does routing work in AngularJS?
Routing in AngularJS is achieved using the ngRoute module or external projects such as the ui-router library. Candidates should be aware that the ngComponentRouter module is deprecated; an answer that only mentions this module may be a yellow flag that the developer is not staying up to date on current AngularJS best practices.
Finally, end the interview by asking candidates to describe specific instances when they have succeeded at code migrations or the maintenance of large codebases. Senior developers skilled in these areas should be able to speak in-depth about prior experience, especially past successes and challenges encountered. You may also refer to additional AngularJS questions to round out your interview with different topics, such as testing or skills necessary to your project.
Why do companies hire AngularJS Developers?
AngularJS engineers primarily work on developing and maintaining single-page applications, enterprise web applications, and progressive web applications. They take a holistic approach to web development—including testing—and help to ensure that sites are intuitive, user-friendly, and secure with a customer-centric business approach.
For companies maintaining legacy applications, seasoned AngularJS experts will elevate the quality of web apps by implementing best practices, modularizing code, fortifying app security, and remedying downtime or bugs.
If your business plans to migrate an AngularJS app to the most current, supported version of Angular, a migration specialist skilled in the required AngularJS and Angular proficiencies will facilitate a smooth, efficient transition.
Identifying the high-level AngularJS candidate profiles and detailed technical proficiencies that drive business growth is crucial; it empowers you with knowledge of how to hire AngularJS developers suited for two essential advanced web development needs.
The technical content presented in this article was reviewed by Maxim Baev.
