The first release of ag-Grid (www.ag-grid.com) broke the ‘usual thinking’ for AngularJS 1.x developers. It provided a high performance grid to the AngularJS 1.x community, but it didn’t use AngularJS 1.x underneath the hood. Instead it used AngularJS 1.x where appropriate, and then native Javascript and DOM manipulation at all other times. A wolf-fast grid in AngularJS 1.x clothing! This approach was novel, building a bridge between native Javascript and AngularJS 1.x without the client AngularJS 1.x application realising it was using a non-AngularJS 1.x component.

AngularJS 1.x had some shortcomings, which is understandable given its evolutionary development. What AngularJS 1.x is being used for today is probably beyond the intentions of Misko when he wrote those first lines of code, which is probably why the guys at Google decided to do a complete redesign for Angular 2. One of the shortcomings that particularly bothered me was the closed nature of the platform: AngularJS 1.x applications could not seamlessly use non-AngularJS 1.x components. For AngularJS 1.x to use a non-AngularJS 1.x component, it had to wrap the component with AngularJS 1.x code. This led to a sea of non-functional components whose only purpose was to wrap non-AngularJS 1.x components — a component wrapping a component.

In ag-Grid, this wrapping code is done for you, thus the AngularJS 1.x application had no idea it was talking to a non-AngularJS 1.x component.

Angular 2 turns this problem right around. Rather than having a closed system for modularising AngularJS 1.x applications, Angular 2’s foundations lie on the emerging Web Components standard. What this means is that AngularJS 1.x will be able to directly use, without any wrapper coding, any component written as a Web Component. That is easy to understand — when I first heard it I understood technically what it meant — but it took me some time to really appreciate the implications of what it meant.

Having spent a considerable time considering the above I have come to the following logical conclusions:

Right now AngularJS 1.x has a large following. It is probable that a large majority of that following will migrate onto Angular 2 when it is ready.

This migration of followers will start hunting for Web Components to include in their AngularJS 1.x applications.

Web Components will receive a significant wave of interest from these followers.

Web Component developers will not have to worry that it’s Angular 2 is their client, no wrapper code will be needed. This is what’s called a framework-agnostic model for Web Components.

The sea of non-functional wrapper components for AngularJS 1.x will have no role in the new Angular 2 & Web Components world and will be washed away.

Some reusable components will be better suited to Angular 2 over Web Components. Components that solve business functions to be reused within an organisation probably fit here.

Some reusable components will be better suited to Web Components over Angular 2 Components. Low level UI widgets (date pickers, grids etc) probably fit here.

Low level components that are currently implemented in AngularJS 1.x probably won’t have a place in the new world as Web Components framework-agnostic pattern will be favored. These will also wash away.

This is excellent news for Web Component developers, regardless of whether you are an AngularJS 1.x advocate or not. This added surge of interest will provide Web Components with additional traction.

So in the future, when Angular 2 is out, it will bring more choice. Component developers will have the choice to provide Web Components that work with AngularJS 1.x as well as with other platforms. AngularJS 1.x developers will have wider choice when selecting components for their application, not being restricted with ‘only AngularJS 1.x’ components. The binding between application technology choice and component technology choice will dissolve. The AngularJS 1.x components that came into existence as a result of its dependency shortcoming will disappear.

So where does this leave components like ag-Grid? ag-Grid has worked with AngularJS 1.x and native Javascript since version 1. Version 2 has extended to Angular 2 and Web Components (these are two separate things, one depends on Angular 2, one depends on Web Components, however an Angular 2 application can talk to both). The positioning of ag-Grid, to support this new technology choice, was evolutionary. Google and the Web Components community laid the breadcrumbs. Now that ag-Grid is available in all these flavours, it will be applicable whichever way the community goes.

I guess ag-Grid has thrown some breadcrumbs too, by supporting the multiple choices, with the anticipation of seeing what sticks.