Exploring Angular A Foundational JavaScript Framework

Angular is one of the foundational JavaScript frameworks, which is why it’s probably not spoken about as much. However, while some developers might favor overlooking Angular for the latest shiny frameworks, Angular still has a lot to offer.

What is Angular?

Angular is a powerful and popular TypeScript-based framework for building dynamic web applications. Its latest iteration, Angular 17, brings refinements that enhance performance, developer experience, and maintainability. If you're new to Angular or looking to upgrade, this guide will get you up and running while offering valuable tips to streamline your development workflow.

Prerequisites

• Node.js and npm (or yarn): Angular development requires https://nodejs.org/. Download the LTS version, and the package manager (npm or yarn) will be included.

• Knowledge of TypeScript: Angular heavily utilizes TypeScript, so familiarity with its concepts (types, classes, interfaces) is recommended.

• Basic understanding of web technologies: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript fundamentals are necessary.

Setting Up Your Angular Project

1. Install the Angular CLI: The Angular CLI is a command-line tool that simplifies project creation, scaffolding, and other essential tasks. Install it globally:

   npm install -g @angular/cli

2. Create a new project: Generate a new Angular project with the following command:

   ng new my-angular-app

3. Run the development server: Navigate to your project directory and start the development server:

   cd my-angular-app
ng serve

4. This will usually launch your app at http://localhost:4200/.

Understanding the Fundamentals

• Components: Building blocks of an Angular application. A component defines a portion of your UI, encapsulating its template (HTML), styles (CSS), and logic (TypeScript).

• Modules: Modularize your application. An Angular module groups related components, directives, services, and other code that defines a specific feature area.

• Templates: Use Angular's templating syntax to write HTML enhanced with directives (attributes that manipulate the DOM) and data binding to update your view dynamically based on component data.

• Services: Encapsulate reusable data access and business logic, keeping your components streamlined.

Tips and Tricks

1. Leverage the Angular CLI: Use the CLI to generate components, services, modules, and more. It automates common tasks and helps standardize your project structure.

2. Embrace TypeScript: TypeScript adds type safety, improves code readability, improves code maintainability, and prevents potential errors.

3. Component-driven architecture: Focus on creating modular and reusable components. This promotes a well-structured and scalable application.

4. Reactive Programming with RxJS: Use RxJS (Reactive Extensions for JavaScript) to cleanly work with asynchronous data streams and events.

5. Angular DevTools: Install the Angular DevTools browser extension to debug, profile, and explore your application's structure.

What’s Changed with Angular?

Here are some of the significant improvements made to Angular over the years:

Core Framework Improvements

• Standalone Components (Angular 14): Create components, directives, and pipes without needing NgModules. This simplifies the structure of Angular applications, reduces boilerplate, and improves bootstrapping time.

• Removal of View Engine (Angular 12): The legacy View Engine was removed entirely. All Angular projects now use the faster and more efficient Ivy rendering engine, allowing for improvements in performance and bundle sizes.

• Stronger Typed Forms (Angular 13): Angular Forms now have strictly typed reactive forms by default. This improves type safety, making catching potential errors during development easier.

• Directive Composition API (Angular 15): Provides a way to reuse behavior across multiple directives, leading to cleaner, more maintainable code and promoting better code organization.

• Enhanced Standalone API (Angular 17): The standalone components API has been further refined, including ergonomic improvements and better integration with the Angular ecosystem.

Developer Experience Enhancements

• Updated Documentation (Angular 17): The brand-new, more user-friendly documentation structure and content on Angular.dev are designed to improve developer learning and productivity.

• The "inject" Function (Angular 14): A standalone function for easier dependency injection in various contexts, making it more convenient to inject dependencies in places where you might not have access to a component or directive injector.

Performance and Tooling

• Image Directive (Angular 15): A streamlined, optimized way to handle images in Angular applications. It helps with lazy loading, prioritization, and ensures better performance.

Routing and State Management

• Functional Router Guards (Angular 15): Router guards can now be defined as standalone functions, improving composability and readability within routing configuration.

Component Dev Kit (CDK)

• CDK Listbox (Angular 15): A new component in the Component Dev Kit (CDK) offering a native Angular solution for building accessible listbox components.

Angular 18-Specific Changes

• Zoneless Change Detection (Experimental): A new way to handle change detection without relying on Zone.js. This can lead to improved performance and simpler code in some scenarios.

• Route Redirects as Functions: Define route redirects using functions for more flexibility and dynamic behavior.

• Signal APIs (Developer Preview): Signals offer a new reactive primitive that can improve performance and simplify certain patterns in your Angular applications.

• Stable Features: Material 3, Signals, Deferrable Views and Built-in Control Flow, introduced in earlier versions, are now stable in Angular 18.

• Unified Control State Change Events: Simplified way to subscribe to a stream of events for form controls to track changes in value, touch state, and more.

• Improved Server-Side Rendering (SSR): Better hydration support, enhanced debugging capabilities, and hydration support in Angular Material improve the SSR experience.

Updating Previous Versions of  Angular 

Updating is always a pain, but the Angular team has provided a comprehensive document with guidance on how to do it, which you can find here: Angular Update Guide.

However, updating Angular applications more than one major version at a time isn't recommended.

Additional Resources

• Official Angular Documentation

• Angular Tutorials

Wrapping Up

Angular continues to evolve with each new version, bringing improvements to performance, developer experience, and new features that make building modern web applications more efficient and enjoyable. By understanding its core concepts and following these tips, you'll be well on your way to developing robust and user-friendly interfaces.

Angular, like other JavaScript frameworks, can be used to build headless websites using DXPs like Sitecore, AEM, and Optimizely. With a headless approach, amazing performance benefits that keep customers engaged can be realized. Learn more about building headless websites in our blog, Boost Performance with a Headless Optimizely Website.

Remember: Features like Zoneless Change Detection and Signal APIs are still experimental or in developer preview, so their APIs and behavior might change in future releases. Always refer to the official Angular documentation for the most up-to-date information.