Meteor pulls JavaScript technologies together

Meteor seeks deeper integrations with the complementary AngularJS and ReactJS frameworks

Meteor pulls JavaScript technologies together
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Proponents of the Meteor JavaScript framework see the AngularJS and ReactJS frameworks as complementary to their own technology and are working to boost integration.

Detailing where the Meteor.js technology is headed, Meteor CEO Geoff Schmidt noted in a recent interview that the company has hired Uri Goldshtein, developer of Angular-Meteor integration technology, and is working on ReactJS integration. "We've already found that many of our users are loving the combination of Meteor plus Angular or Meteor plus React," Schmidt said.

While Angular and React can provide a front-end view layer, Meteor can fill in gaps like providing client-side database access, a way to push data over WebSockets, security rules, and business logic, Schmidt explained: "Angular is like the propeller. It's part of the whole plane, but you're left to build the rest of the plane yourself. Meteor provides all the other parts of the plane. It provides the wing, the cockpit, and the engine."

Meteor, he said, "completes the story and provides an Angular or React developer with everything else they need to build a modern application without having to a integrate a dozen different technologies." While Meteor offers its own Blaze technology for user interfaces, some developers nonetheless want to use AngularJS or ReactJS, Schmidt said. "This lets those community use Meteor," he added.

Meteor is positioned as a complete platform for building Web and mobile apps in JavaScript. Recently, Meteor added support for Windows clients, with the release of Meteor 1.1. Meteor plans to support the ECMAScript 6 specification for JavaScript, and later this year, it will offer its Galaxy cloud-hosting solution for Meteor applications.

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