I'm choosing a javascript framework for my Chrome extension programming (localStorage, lots of ajax calls, filtering, json manipulation). Do you recommend AngularJS or Backbone? I started with JS a few months ago (I have PHP and Java background) and the main problem for me is to have a good and clean structure of my web app.
What I like about AngularJS? The two way binding and the concept itself.
What I like about Backbone? It's really simple for beginner. And there are a lot of resources.
Full disclosure: I work on AngularJS, and obviously have a bit of a bias. ;)
If you're looking for an opinionated application structure, I would definitely stick with AngularJS. Backbone provides many helpful utilities, but there are many choices that you have to make about how you want to connect things. From my experience writing medium/large apps with Backbone.js, I've found that I have to put in more effort to keep things organized compared to AngularJS, which has much clearer separation of concerns.
The best choice is to code little projects in these two libraries.
Why not test and see the code from Todo MVC project from Addy Osmani and after that, make your choice ?