Thank you, Angular
Looking back…
I remember it as if it happened just yesterday. A string of semi-random events led me to meet Miško in 2009. Our meeting was followed by this email exchange:
On Jul 31, 2009, at 4:47 PM, Misko Hevery wrote:
…
> Here is the site I am working on. It is not launched yet, so please
> don’t blog about it yet, but do check it out, sign up, watch a video
> and let me know what you think? Perhaps you can build some app too.
>
> http://www.getangular.comI glanced at the site and it looks very interesting. I’ll play with it more during the weekend.
/i
I did play with AngularJS¹ (not quite the same Angular you know now) over that weekend in 2009, and I was instantly hooked. I saw something very immature, yet revolutionary — a project with a lot of potential. I started digging in and providing feedback, thinking about what this prototype could become one day. It wasn’t until a year later that I was finally able to join Google, which in the meantime adopted the project as an experiment to increase web development productivity. Today, almost 11.5 years after joining Google to work on Angular, I’m leaving while still working on the very same project.
When I joined I had very ambitious goals. I recall that when GWT sunsetting was announced, I made a snarky comment that the 1 million developers that were using GWT at the time, could one day become Angular developers — we had about a dozen developers actively using AngularJS at that time. I was wrong. Angular grew to become much bigger and much more influential than what I had ever imagined.
We were not champions that were expected to make it. The competition was fierce both in the open source community with many great JavaScript frameworks and libraries out there, as well as internally at Google where Angular was clearly an underdog, and for the longest time not taken seriously.
We held to our beliefs and were determined to make Angular into a solution that would enable the creation of web applications that users love to use; applications created by developers that love to build them; and do it all with a community where everyone feels welcome.
From these humble beginnings, Angular has grown, and grown a lot. Angular is now one of the most preferred enterprise solutions for building web applications. And many of you joining us today come from enterprises all around the world, where you build some of the biggest and most business critical applications across travel, hospitality, healthcare, manufacturing, finance, and many other industries.
Angular now…
At Google we’ve reached some major milestones recently as well. Angular’s growth has accelerated and has over 2500 applications, and thousands of Googlers using it. Angular has become the most used web solution at Google across all categories we currently track. While we don’t have the exact metrics for this, I do believe it’s safe to say that Angular has impacted billions of people around the world.
The path from our origins to where we are today has been anything but easy, but it’s been a path of learning, discovery, growth, and building relationships. If I have any regrets at all, it would be that I’m leaving at a time when Angular, thanks to the efforts of many people, is the healthiest it’s ever been. The team is led and guided by very fine people, like Sarah Drasner, Thevi Sundaralingam, Madleina Scheidegger, and Christina Brink.
I’m definitely not ignorant of Angular’s areas of improvement, but Angular has a lot of amazing things underway, an exceptional (truly one of a kind) team, and a very unique ability to evolve and improve while bringing the community and existing customers along. The combination of all these things create an environment in which Angular can thrive, and even soar in the future. Knowing this makes it a bit easier for me to move on. After more than a decade with Angular, I’d like to try out new things, tackle new challenges, and personally grow in new areas.
And into the future…
Jeremy will be transitioning to the Angular Uber Tech Lead (TL) role — a fancy title for the person that helps other Angular TLs and the community set the overall tech direction for the project. Jeremy has been the tech lead for Angular Components effort for many years and one of the most tenured members of the Angular team. He’s also led the framework team as well in the past. Not only is Jeremy very skilled, he’s just as passionate about the Web and great user experiences as many of us, and a seasoned leader who is a great choice for this role. Jeremy will work with other leads, specifically Alex (Angular Framework), Andrew (Angular Components), Doug (Angular Tooling), Joey (Angular DevInfra), Dave (Angular Docs), Minko (Angular DevRel), Madleina and Christina (Angular Engineering Management), and the community to keep evolving Angular.
You can see our roadmap, release schedule, and support policy for the future on the Angular website. We also have a few updates coming that we’ll be announcing soon that are very exciting.
I’d like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude and thanks. First, to the Angular community. You’ve helped me grow in ways I didn’t know was possible, and you’ve enabled me to meet so many smart, kind, and fun people. Working with the Angular team meant that I was surrounded by so many exceptional humans. You’ve made me realize that often the impossible is possible if you work with the right people. Thank you to our partners and customers. While there are too many to name, know that all of you are special to me and the team. Finally, thank you to Google for the opportunity to do what many thought was impossible. I feel blessed and I’m grateful to y’all.
Many have already asked me what’s next for me, and my answer has been simple: I’m not telling yet, but I’m super excited, and yes it’s very much Web related. No matter what, I will remain an Angular superfan, user, and an advisor. I’ll share more about my future once I properly say goodbyes to the Angular Team and the Angular Community.
In 11.5 years at Google, and 12.5 years overall poking at Angular, I’ve been fortunate enough to build some great things with great (some of the best in fact!) people. I have been able to experience all kinds of incredible things ranging from being vulnerable on the stage while sharing our growing pains, conducting a snowmobile rescue operation in Utah’s wilderness, to helping 1000+ people breathe and discover the power of meditation and empathy. I had the opportunity to travel all around the world and meet people from very different backgrounds. I even got to watch the Angular community grow way past my goal of helping one million GWT developers find a new home. Angular is now a solution of choice for many, and a solution that evolves the fastest to help make the Web and Internet better for everyone.
To do this and more, it just takes belief.
🖖🏻 Igor
(only a fraction of people attended due to travel restrictions)
