AngularJS UI Libraries: Angular Material, PrimeNG, RxJS – Enhance Your UI/UX (2025 Guide)

Introduction – Why Use UI Libraries in AngularJS?

While AngularJS (1.x) doesn’t offer a component-based system like Angular 2+, it can still be extended using powerful third-party UI libraries like:

• Angular Material – Material Design components
• PrimeNG – Rich UI widgets and forms (legacy AngularJS equivalent: PrimeUI)
• RxJS – Reactive Extensions for real-time data flow (integrated manually)

These libraries help build modern, responsive, and dynamic UIs without reinventing the wheel.

In this guide, you’ll learn:

• How to integrate Angular Material in AngularJS
• The role of PrimeUI for AngularJS apps
• Using RxJS to create reactive UI logic
• Best practices and real-world scenarios

Angular Material for AngularJS

Angular Material for AngularJS is available as angular-material.

Step 1: Install Angular Material

npm install angular-material

Include dependencies:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="angular-material.min.css">
<script src="angular.min.js"></script>
<script src="angular-animate.min.js"></script>
<script src="angular-aria.min.js"></script>
<script src="angular-messages.min.js"></script>
<script src="angular-material.min.js"></script>

Step 2: Define Module Dependencies

angular.module('myApp', ['ngMaterial']);

Step 3: Use Material Components

<md-button class="md-raised md-primary">Submit</md-button>

<md-input-container>
  <label>Username</label>
  <input ng-model="user.name">
</md-input-container>

Components like md-button, md-input-container, md-tabs, and md-dialog enhance the UI with Material Design.

💠 PrimeNG / PrimeUI in AngularJS

While PrimeNG is for Angular 2+, PrimeUI was designed for jQuery and AngularJS compatibility.

Using PrimeUI in AngularJS

1. Install PrimeUI:

npm install primeui

2. Load PrimeUI CSS & JS:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="primeui/themes/bootstrap/theme.css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" href="primeui/primeui.css" />
<script src="primeui/primeui.js"></script>

3. Use with AngularJS by wrapping jQuery widgets:

<input type="text" id="calendar">

<script>
  $(function () {
    $('#calendar').puicalendar();
  });
</script>

You can wrap PrimeUI widgets in AngularJS directives for seamless usage.

RxJS in AngularJS UI

RxJS adds observable streams to AngularJS UIs for handling:

• Autocomplete
• Typeahead
• WebSocket updates
• Button click throttling

RxJS Subject Example

app.factory('ReactiveService', function() {
  const subject = new Rx.Subject();

  return {
    sendData: data => subject.next(data),
    onData: callback => subject.subscribe(callback)
  };
});

app.controller('MainCtrl', function($scope, ReactiveService) {
  ReactiveService.onData(msg => {
    $scope.$apply(() => {
      $scope.output = msg;
    });
  });

  $scope.send = () => {
    ReactiveService.sendData('Clicked at ' + new Date());
  };
});

<button ng-click="send()">Send</button>
<p>{{ output }}</p>

Enables decoupled, stream-based UI logic.

Comparison Table – UI Library Features

Best Practices

✔️ Use Angular Material for structured layouts and responsive forms
✔️ Wrap PrimeUI components as custom AngularJS directives
✔️ Use RxJS to handle async UI interactions or real-time events
✔️ Stick to one primary UI framework to avoid style clashes
✔️ Test for accessibility and mobile responsiveness across libraries

Summary – Recap & Next Steps

Even in AngularJS, modern UI development is possible using Angular Material, PrimeUI, and RxJS. They help build responsive, reactive, and well-styled interfaces while boosting productivity and UX quality.

Key Takeaways:

• Use angular-material for Material Design UI
• Use PrimeUI for jQuery-based UI widgets
• Use RxJS for reactive user interactions and event handling
• Wrap and modularize 3rd-party components for reusability
• Combine UI libraries with AngularJS best practices

Real-world Relevance:
Widely used in enterprise dashboards, admin panels, reporting tools, and data-rich AngularJS platforms that need modern UI/UX.

FAQ – AngularJS UI Libraries

Can I use Angular Material with AngularJS 1.x?
Yes. AngularJS has its own version of Angular Material (angular-material) fully compatible with AngularJS 1.3+.

What is the PrimeNG alternative for AngularJS?
PrimeUI. It provides UI components compatible with jQuery and can be wrapped inside AngularJS directives.

Does RxJS work with AngularJS?
Yes. RxJS can be manually integrated into AngularJS services to support observable streams and reactive logic.

Which is better for UI – Angular Material or PrimeUI?
Angular Material offers better integration, accessibility, and native AngularJS directive support compared to PrimeUI.