Imagine this: You rolled out a week of Lightning Components (Aura) applications in a more interactive way in Salesforce. You had done good, felt content and then Lightning Web Components (LWC) hears about it. You came hard, only to find out that all your hard work is obsolete. It starts with panic Are you employing the wrong tools? Will your app be slow and ineffective from the start? OK let me rip the entire thing and do it again.
Relax. You are not the only one. So, developers are lost between the transition from Lightning Components to Lightning Web Components having? In this post, we will light your screen on the past, compare the two, and yes, scare the hell out of you when it comes to future Salesforce development.
In the end you will have a good idea of why LWC is changing the supply chain for Salesforce CRM and if it is time for you to make the switch. Alright let’s dig in!
What are Lightning Components?
- Lightning Components – Aura Components to Salesforce administrators, is a framework in which dynamic web applications were to be built.
- Aura framework provided the foundation of these components that allowed developers to write JavaScript/Apex based reusable UI components.
Key Features of Lightning Components
Component-based architecture
- Event-driven communication
- Develops on a client-side logic using JavaScript
- Apex: The Server-side processing
- Complies with Aura Framework of Salesforce proprietary
- Need a lot of code
- Include native security and data access
Even though they had many advantages, Lightning Components had performative issues mainly because of the cost the Aura Framework put on.
Lightning Web Components (LWC) are what?
- Lightning Web Components (LWC) – Salesforce ultra-fresh UI Framework on top of standard Web Components
- LWC (Lightning Web Components) vs Aura Components: LWC is a pluggable lightweight component based on the modern web standards
Main Features of Lightning Web Components
- Using common web (HTML, JavaScript and CSS) standard
- ECMAScript 6 (ES6+) for contemporary JavaScript
- Aura Components are far more efficient in rendering and performance than
- Less code is required
- Allows Shadow DOM for encapsulation
- Enhancing Re-Usability and Modularity
- Aura Component Compatibility with ease
- Handshake Two-way data binding
Salesforce developers can plug into LWC to build applications that are faster, more scalable and maintainable according to web standards.
Key Differences Between Lightning Components and LWC
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Lightning Web Components (LWC) |
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Pros of Lightning Web Components over Lightning web components
1. Improved Performance
- LWC is a web component on top of standard web components, so it doesn´t need the processing layer that Aura components have. Let alone leading to quicker load times and greater speed.
2. Modern JavaScript support
Modern JavaScript – LWC complies to the latest ECMAScript standards, that makes us can write our code nicely like professionals instead of adding idioms for every googling.
3. Reduced Complexity
- As it makes it less for a developer to create and manage applications through easy development process and less code LWC
4. Enhanced Security
- Shadow DOM style encapsulation and protection of component styles (and script) with LWC
5. Scalability and Reusability
- LWC makes it possible for developers to build reusable components in a way that can be utilized irrespective of the application it relates to and thus encourages code reusability and modularity.
6. The Future-Proof Layer
- By betting on LWC as flag ship development platform, investing in LWC you can ensure future support for your customizations and test-prod compatibility.
When to Use Lightning Components vs. LWC?
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For new Salesforce projects, it is highly recommended to use Lightning Web Components. However, if you are working with legacy systems that already rely on Aura Components, gradual migration to LWC is advisable.
How do I migrate from Lightning Components to LWC?
This is a big part of why migrating from Aura Components to Lightning Web Components is so strategic: better performance and scalability.
You follow the below procedure:
1. Find and Review Current Components
- Get a list of your current Aura Components.
- Determine and find the dependencies as well request for components-based communication through events
2. Tag Components for Migration
- First of all, migrate performance-regular components.
- Refactoring Components to LWC; identify all the reusable components
3. Aura Components to LWC convert
- Rewrite using up-to-date JavaScript (ES6+), far from our original Aura components.
- Prune the extra boilerplate out of things.
- Enable an idiomatic common HTML template for UI.
4. Test and Optimize
- Unit and integration tests.
- Lightning Debug Mode: Optimize Your Performance with Salesforce.
5. Deploy and monitor
- In a sandbox, deploy the migrated component
- Monitor performance and get feedback from users before actual roll-out.
Using this governed pattern, organizations can fairly move towards Lightning Web Components with minimum intrusion (especially when we talk about data migration challenges).
Conclusion
Salesforce moving to Lightning Web Components (formerly LWC) is one big move in the right direction for modern and efficient scalable web apps development.
LWC should be taking the place of Aura Components they are built on web standards for better performance, maintainability and future proof solutions as far as I can see while still having a smooth transition from Aura Components
LWC is the only game in town for any new Salesforce project. We obviously need a strategic lift of our Aura app to LWC as this upgrades our Salesforce performance and viability – Any existing application.
Knowing the difference and the migration strategies will allow developers, eventually businesses too, to make a choice for their own in Salesforce development and be ahead in the change happening CRM.
Guest article written by: 
Gopinath G. Passionate about the intersection of cutting-edge technologies and their applications in Industry 4.0. I delve into topics like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Big Data, and the Internet of Things, exploring their transformative potential in modern industries. Eager to engage in discussions, share insights, and learn from others on these exciting frontiers. Let’s connect and explore the future of technology together! https://www.linkedin.com/in/gopinath-govindasamy/