The deprecated frontend stack they reference would seem to be GWT:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Web_Toolkit
So they're rebuilding the app in TypeScript with Angular instead of with Java+GWT.
So they're rebuilding the app in TypeScript with Angular instead of with Java+GWT.
GWT, as you suggest, is definitely a dinosaur.
> rewrite Matrix using newer web technologies like Angular,
How long until Angular goes the way of GWT, though? It's not exactly a beloved technology. Not quite the same level of pain as GWT, but Angular codebases aren't something I'd like to maintain either.
Every service team at that time chose their own tech stack, and so sometimes I would hunt for ideas of how to implement something in other team's codebases, so I got to see the different tech stacks.
For a brief moment Angular was really popular, and then fizzled out just as fast. For me, it was the worst of all the options by far.
https://www.theinformation.com/articles/google-brass-set-202...
Once you figure out build step and magic incitation to make debugger work (and docment it), It's really not bad,
and maintaining is easier then most other "older" codebases I come across. Old rubby/php/javascrip(jQuery/whatever) project is usually pain because they all use tons of external packages/libs that you have to update find new ones etc every time you take project off the shelf. With GWT and Java it just works, because we didn't use that many other libraries and Java libraries generally put a lot more effort in backwards compatibility.
So no I would not start new projects in GWT anymore, but I think that current react projects will be a lot harder to maintain in 10 years, than GWT is.
Frontend development is an extremely fast moving field and claiming a "clear winner" makes no sense.
Having said that, I agree that Angular may not be the best option in the general sense, but given that it is a Google-backed framework, they probably have the best talent available to build tools efficiently.
The equivalent React/Vue/etc would throw a Javascript exception. Stacktraces aren't the best debugging experience, but they're functional.
I also think Angular inherits from a more traditional UI lineage of composing styling on an element, which I find less clear than something like React that has a more backend-y development flow. That's just personal preference, but I started on the backend so Angular's "build an element and then wire it up" makes less sense to me than React's "figure out the data flow and then build elements on that" style.
I don't find it showstopping. I wouldn't turn down a job because they use Angular. If someone asked me what framework to use, I just probably wouldn't suggest Angular.
No. It will not even compile.