The Top 50 Tips for Better Angular Development
Angular is a web framework built on TypeScript that enables developers to build dynamic, efficient, and scalable web applications. It offers powerful features, such as two-way data binding, dependency injection, and a modular architecture, that make it an excellent choice for building complex applications.
This article dives into essential tips and best practices that will help you enhance your Angular development skills. Whether you're a seasoned Angular developer or a beginner, these insights will help optimize your applications, improve code quality, and leverage Angular’s features effectively. We'll examine tips for:
- Basic Angular Best Practices
- Advanced Angular Development Techniques
- Angular Performance Optimization
- Angular Code Quality and Testing
- Angular-Specific Features
- Development Workflow
50 Essential Tips for Angular Developers
These tips are divided into various categories to help you focus on specific areas of development, from basic best practices and advanced techniques to performance optimization, code quality, Angular-specific features, and development workflow.
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Basic Angular Best Practices
A basic best practice can be anything from simply following the official style guide to using Angular modules. For this first category, let’s start with tips that help establish good habits and ensure consistency in your Angular projects.
1. Always Use Angular CLI for Project Scaffolding and Development
The Angular command-line interface (CLI) simplifies the project setup process, automates common tasks like generating components, services, and modules, and supports Angular best practices.
ng new my-app # Create a new Angular app
ng g c dashboard # Generate a component2. Follow the Angular Style Guide for Consistent Code Quality
Adhering to Angular’s official style guide improves code readability and maintainability across developer teams. The key principles from this style guide include consistent naming conventions, project and component structure, and code formatting. For example:
// Defining a component
@Component({
selector: 'app-login',
standalone: true,
imports: [FormsModule],
templateUrl: './login.component.html',
styleUrl: './login.component.css'
})
export class LoginComponent {
// Component logic
}3. Use Strict Mode for TypeScript to Catch Potential Errors Early
TypeScript’s strict mode (strict: true in tsconfig.json) enables advanced type-checking options like strictNullChecks, strictFunctionTypes, and strictPropertyInitialization. Enabling strict mode helps to catch common programming errors during development, which improves code robustness.
4. Avoid Using Any Type to Ensure Type Safety
Minimize the use of any in TypeScript declarations. Instead, use specific types or interfaces to define the shape of data and function parameters. This helps to enhance type safety, improve IDE support, and prevent runtime errors.
5. Organize Your Application Using Angular Modules
Angular modules help to group related components, directives, and pipes. This modular approach promotes code reusability, simplifies the overall dependency management, and enhances application scalability.
However, starting from v17, Angular recommends the use of Standalone components, which is also the default for the ng new command. To generate an application that uses modules, pass the --no-standaloneflag to the ng new command.
6. Use Angular’s Built-In RxJS Operators for Reactive Programming
Reactive Extensions for JavaScript (RxJS) operators like map, filter, concat, and mergeMap facilitate reactive programming in Angular applications. These operators handle asynchronous data streams efficiently, allowing developers to manage complex workflows and data transformations with ease.
Below is an example of RxJS operators in a service that transforms the HTTP response data before passing it to the subscriber:
@Injectable({
providedIn: 'root'
})
export class PostService {
private baseUrl: string = 'https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts'
constructor(
private httpClient: HttpClient
) { }
findAll(): Observable<any[]> {
return this.httpClient.get<any[]>(this.baseUrl).pipe(
// Transforming the response using the map operator
map(response => {
return response.map((item: any) => ({
id: item.id,
title: item.title,
body: item.body
}))
})
)
}
}7. Leverage Angular’s Dependency Injection for Better Code Modularity
Angular supports the dependency injection (DI) design pattern, allowing you to create and deliver some parts of your application to others that require them. This design pattern promotes code modularity, improves testability, and reduces coupling between components.
The code in the previous tip is an example of dependency injection in a service. In the code, the HttpClient is injected into the PostService through the constructor method, making it available for HTTP requests within the service.
8. Use Angular’s Lifecycle Hooks for Managing Component States
Angular lifecycle hooks, such as ngOnInit, ngOnChanges, ngAfterViewInit, and ngOnDestroy, allow you to execute custom logic at specific stages of a component’s lifecycle.
@Component({
selector: 'app-example',
templateUrl: './example.component.html',
styleUrls: ['./example.component.css']
})
export class ExampleComponent implements OnInit {
ngOnInit(): void {
// Perform initialization logic here
}
// Component logic
}Advanced Angular Development Techniques
Now that we’ve covered the basic best practices, let’s look at more advanced techniques. Advanced techniques focus on optimizing application performance, enhancing user experience, and implementing more complex features in Angular applications. By mastering these tips, you can create highly efficient, maintainable, and scalable applications.
9. Implement Lazy Loading for Optimizing Application Performance
By default, NgModules are eagerly loaded. With lazy loading, you can change this behavior to load modules only when needed. This technique is particularly useful for large applications as it reduces your application’s initial load time.
To implement lazy loading, you use loadChildren instead of component in your AppRoutingModule routes:
const routes: Routes = [
{
path: 'posts',
loadChildren: () => import('./posts/posts.module').then(m => m.PostsModule)
}
];
You then define the component in the lazy-loaded module’s routing module:
const routes: Routes = [{ path: '', component: PostsComponent }];10. Use ng-template for Creating Reusable Templates
ng-template allows developers to define reusable templates that can be instantiated dynamically. It's particularly useful for creating dynamic content or structural directives:
<ng-template select let-data [selectFrom]="source">
<p>The data is: {{ data }}</p>
</ng-template>11. Use Angular’s Built-In Directives, Like ngFor and ngIf, Efficiently
You can optimize performance by using ngFor and ngIf directives judiciously. Avoid placing heavy computation or complex logic inside these directives to maintain smooth rendering and application responsiveness.
12. Create Custom Directives for Reusable Behaviors
Angular directives encapsulate reusable behaviors. You can create custom directives to encapsulate DOM manipulation, event handling, or other reusable functionalities across components:
@Directive({
selector: '[appHighlight]',
standalone: true
})
export class HighlightDirective {
constructor(private el: ElementRef) {
this.el.nativeElement.style.backgroundColor = 'yellow';
}
}13. Optimize Change Detection with OnPush Strategy
Improve application performance by adopting the OnPush change detection strategy. This strategy limits change detection to components whose input properties have changed, reducing unnecessary checks:
@Component({
…
changeDetection: ChangeDetectionStrategy.OnPush
})
export class ExampleComponent {
// Component logic
}14. Use Template-Driven and Reactive Angular Forms Appropriately
Choose between template-driven and reactive forms based on project requirements and complexity. Template-driven forms are suitable for simpler forms, while reactive forms offer more flexibility and scalability for complex scenarios.
15. Implement Custom Form Validators for Better Form Control
Extend Angular’s built-in validators or create custom validators to enforce specific validation rules and enhance form control:
// Custom validator function to check for forbidden email domains
export function forbiddenEmailValidator(forbiddenEmails: RegExp[]): ValidatorFn {
return (control: AbstractControl): ValidationErrors | null => {
// Check if the email matches any forbidden pattern
const forbidden = forbiddenEmails.some(pattern => pattern.test(control.value));
return forbidden ? { 'forbiddenEmail': { value: control.value } } : null;
};
}16. Leverage Angular’s HTTP Client for Robust API Communication
Angular’s HttpClient module provides a powerful way to interact with APIs. Use it to perform HTTP requests, handle responses, and manage errors efficiently:
@Injectable({
providedIn: 'root'
})
export class PostService {
constructor(
private httpClient: HttpClient
) { }
findAll(): Observable<any[]> {
return this.httpClient.get<any[]>('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts')
}
}17. Use Angular Interceptors for Handling HTTP Requests and Responses
Interceptors intercept HTTP requests or responses to transform or handle them before they reach the server or the application. They're useful for adding headers, logging, or error handling.
For example, suppose your application has an AuthService which is responsible for generating auth tokens for outgoing requests:
export function authInterceptor(req: HttpRequest<unknown>, next: HttpHandlerFn) {
// Inject AuthService and get an auth token
const authToken = inject(AuthService).getAuthToken();
// Add the token to the authentication header.
const newReq = req.clone({headers: {
req.headers.append('X-Authentication-Token', authToken),
}});
return next(newReq);
}18. Implement Route Guards for Securing Application Routes
Route guards protect routes from unauthorized access by implementing logic to allow or deny navigation based on user authentication, roles, or other criteria.
export const authGuard: CanActivateFn = (route: ActivatedRouteSnapshot, state: RouterStateSnapshot): MaybeAsync<GuardResult> => {
// Guard logic
// Return true or false
};19. Use Angular Animations to Enhance User Experience
Angular’s animation module allows you to create rich, responsive animations declaratively within Angular applications. Using it, you can enhance the user’s experience with animations for transitions, state changes, or interactive elements.
20. Use Angular’s Built-In Pipes for Data Transformation
Angular pipes transform data for display in the UI. You can leverage built-in pipes like DatePipe, UpperCasePipe, LowerCasePipe, and DecimalPipe to format data efficiently.
<p>{{ today | date }}</p>Angular Performance Optimization
Now that we’ve covered advanced techniques, let’s look at performance optimization. Performance optimization is crucial for delivering fast and responsive Angular applications. In the following tips, we’ll explore techniques and strategies that help you optimize Angular applications for speed, efficiency, and user experience.
21. Use Angular’s trackBy in ngFor for Better Performance
When rendering lists with ngFor, use the trackBy function to improve rendering performance by allowing Angular to track item changes more efficiently:
<li *ngFor="let item of items; index as i; trackBy: trackByFn">...</li>
trackByFn(index, item) {
return item.id; // Use a unique identifier for efficient tracking
}22. Minimize the Use of ngClass and ngStyle for Dynamic Styling
While Angular's ngClass and ngStyle directives are powerful tools for applying dynamic styles and classes to elements, overusing them can lead to harder-to-maintain code. Wherever possible, define styles in your CSS classes and by using stylesheets. This approach helps separate styling concerns from application logic, making your codebase easier to manage.
23. Use @HostListener and @HostBinding for Better DOM Event Management
@HostListener and @HostBinding decorators provide a cleaner way to manage DOM events and properties within Angular directives and components. They promote better code organization and improve performance by reducing the overhead of event listeners:
@Directive({
selector: '[appHighlight]',
standalone: true
})
export class HighlightDirective {
constructor() { }
@HostBinding('style.backgroundColor') backgroundColor: string = 'yellow'
@HostListener('mouseenter') onMouseEnter() {
this.backgroundColor = 'red'
}
@HostListener('mouseleave') onMouseLeave() {
this.backgroundColor = ''
}
}24. Optimize Template Expressions for Improved Performance
Minimize complex computations and function calls in template expressions to improve rendering performance. Pre-compute values in component methods or properties where possible to reduce the workload on Angular's change detection.
25. Leverage Angular’s Ahead-of-Time (AOT) Compilation
Angular's AOT compilation converts Angular templates and components into highly optimized JavaScript code during the build process. AOT compilation results in faster rendering, reduced bundle size, and early template errors detection.
26. Use Angular’s Service Workers to Enable PWA Capabilities
Service workers enable Progressive Web App (PWA) features such as offline support and background synchronization. Angular's @angular/service-worker module simplifies the implementation of service workers in Angular applications.
27. Optimize Bundle Size by Configuring Angular Build Settings
You can configure Angular build settings (angular.json) to optimize bundle size and easily configure size budgets for the entire app or parts of the application. With the budgets set, the builder will show a warning or report an error when a given part of the application reaches or exceeds the set boundary size.
// angular.json
{
…
"configurations": {
"production": {
…
"budgets": [
{
"type": "initial",
"maximumWarning": "250kb",
"maximumError": "500kb"
},
]
}
}
…
}28. Implement Lazy Loading for Third-Party Libraries
Delay loading third-party libraries until they are needed using lazy loading techniques. This reduces initial load times and improves the performance of your Angular application.
@defer (on viewport) {
<app-chart [id]="chart.id" [data]="chart.data" />
} @placeholder {
<p>Chart placeholder.</p>
}Angular Code Quality and Testing
Now that we’ve looked at some performance optimization tips, let’s explore code quality and testing. Ensuring code quality and comprehensive testing are vital for building reliable and maintainable Angular applications. For this next category of tips, let’s delve into best practices for writing clean code, unit and end-to-end testing, and using the necessary tools to ensure quality standards.
29. Write Unit Tests Using Angular’s Testing Utilities
Angular provides a robust testing framework using Jasmine and Karma for writing unit tests. Utilize these tools to create unit tests that verify the functionality of individual components, services, and other Angular elements.
describe('AppComponent', () => {
it('should create the app', () => {
const fixture = TestBed.createComponent(AppComponent);
const app = fixture.componentInstance;
expect(app).toBeTruthy();
});
});30. Implement End-to-End Testing with Protractor or Cypress
End-to-end (E2E) testing ensures the entire application flow works as expected. Use frameworks like Cypress to write and run E2E tests.
describe('Cypress Demo App', () => {
it('should have a title', () => {
cy.visit('http://localhost:4200');
cy.title().should('eq', 'My Angular App');
});
});31. Use Angular’s ng-mocks Library to Simplify Unit Tests
ng-mocks simplifies the creation of mock components, services, and modules for testing, reducing boilerplate code and enhancing test readability. For example, assume you have Component1 that depends on Component2, and you want to use its mock object in your test suite:
TestBed.configureTestingModule({
imports: [MockComponent(Component2)]
declarations: [Component1],
…
})32. Leverage Angular’s Schematics for Code Generation and Maintenance
Angular Schematics automates code generation and project maintenance tasks, ensuring consistency and reducing manual effort. Use Angular CLI commands to generate components, services, and modules:
ng generate component post
ng generate service post33. Use Angular’s Linting Tools to Maintain Code Quality
Linting tools, like ESLint, help enforce coding standards and detect potential errors. Integrate linting into your development workflow to maintain code quality:
ng lint34. Follow Angular’s Best Practices for Component Communication
Use Input and Output decorators for parent-child communication, services with RxJS for sibling components, and Angular’s EventEmitter for emitting events:
@Component({
selector: 'app-child',
template: '<button (click)="notifyParent()">Click me</button>',
})
export class ChildComponent {
@Output() clicked = new EventEmitter<void>();
notifyParent() {
this.clicked.emit();
}
}
@Component({
selector: 'app-parent',
template: '<app-child (clicked)="handleClick()"></app-child>',
})
export class ParentComponent {
handleClick() {
console.log('Child clicked');
}
}35. Use Angular’s State Management libraries, like NgRx or Akita
For managing complex application state, use state management libraries like NgRx. These libraries provide a predictable state container and help manage state in a scalable way.
36. Implement Feature Modules to Encapsulate Related Functionalities
Feature modules encapsulate related components, services, and other Angular elements, promoting code organization and modularity. Use feature modules to group related functionality and reduce the complexity of your main application module:
@NgModule({
declarations: [FeatureComponent],
imports: [CommonModule, FeatureRoutingModule],
providers: [FeatureService]
})
export class FeatureModule {}Angular-Specific Features
In addition to focusing on code quality and testing, it’s also a best practice to use some features specific to Angular. Angular offers a number of powerful features that can significantly enhance your development workflow and the capabilities of your applications.
37. Use Angular’s async Pipe for Handling Asynchronous Data
The async pipe simplifies the process of handling asynchronous data in templates by automatically subscribing to Observables and Promises and then updating the view with the emitted values:
@Component({
selector: 'app-async-example',
template: `<div *ngIf="data$ | async as data">{{ data }}</div>`,
standalone: true,
imports: [CommonModule]
})
export class AsyncExampleComponent {
data$: Observable<string>;
constructor(private dataService: DataService) {
this.data$ = this.dataService.getData();
}
}38. Leverage Angular’s Dynamic Components for Flexible UI Components
Dynamic components allow you to create and load components at runtime, providing flexibility in UI design. Angular offers two different ways to dynamically render a component: using NgComponentOutlet or ViewRefContainer.
// Dynamic components using ViewRefContainer
@Component({
selector: 'dynamic-component',
template: `
This is the dynamic component
`,
})
export class DynamicComponent {}
@Component({
selector: 'container-component',
template: `
<p>Upper container boundary</p>
<inner-content />
<p>Lower container boundary</p>
`,
})
export class ContainerComponent {}
@Component({
selector: 'inner-content',
template: `
<button (click)="loadContent()">Load content</button>
`,
})
export class InnerContent {
constructor(private viewContainer: ViewContainerRef) {}
loadContent() {
this.viewContainer.createComponent(DynamicContent);
}
}39. Implement Angular Material for a Consistent UI Design
Angular Material provides a comprehensive library of UI components based on Google's Material Design principles, ensuring a consistent and professional look across your application.
40. Use Angular’s Component Dev Kit (CDK) for Advanced UI Components
Angular's CDK offers a set of tools for building custom UI components, such as drag-and-drop, overlays, and virtual scrolling, enhancing the flexibility and functionality of your application.
41. Integrate Angular Universal for Server-Side Rendering
Server-side rendering (SSR) involves rendering web pages on the server. This results in improved performance, better SEO, and improved core web vitals. To create a project with server-side rendering configured, pass the --ssr flag to the ng new command. To add SSR to an existing project, use the command ng add @angular/ssr.
You can also leverage Angular Universal to implement server-side rendering.
42. Use Angular’s Internationalization (i18n) Tools
Angular provides built-in tools for internationalization (i18n) to support multiple languages and locales, ensuring your application can reach a global audience.
43. Implement Custom Angular Decorators for Reusable Logic
Custom decorators can be applied to various parts of an Angular application to encapsulate reusable logic, reduce code duplication, and improve maintainability. They provide a clean and declarative way to enhance the functionality of your classes, methods, properties, and parameters.
// Property decorator
function LogProperty(target: any, key: string) {
console.log(`Logging decorator applied to property: ${key}`);
}
@Component({
selector: 'app-root',
standalone: true,
template: `<div>{{ name }}</div>`,
})
export class AppComponent {
@LogProperty
name: string
constructor() {
this.name = 'Angular';
}
}Development Workflow
While Angular offers a number of features that promote best practices, there is a component beyond Angular itself that is critical to maintaining best practices in Angular – your own development workflow. Optimizing your development workflow can significantly boost productivity, streamline processes, and ensure smooth deployments. In this section, we explore best practices and tools that can enhance your Angular development workflow.
44. Use Angular CLI Commands for Efficient Development
The Angular CLI provides powerful commands for automatically creating Angular projects, generating files, adding external libraries, linting, running tests, building for production, and more. This automation ensures consistency and saves time.
45. Implement CI/CD Pipelines with Angular CLI for Automated Deployments
Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines automate the build, test, and deployment processes. This ensures faster and more reliable deployments. Use tools like Jenkins, GitHub Actions, or GitLab CI.
# GitHub Actions example
name: Node.js CI
on:
push:
branches: [ "main" ]
pull_request:
branches: [ "main" ]
jobs:
build:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
strategy:
matrix:
node-version: [18.x]
steps:
# Check out the source code
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
# Setup Node.js
- name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
uses: actions/setup-node@v3
with:
node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
cache: 'npm'
# Install dependencies
- run: npm ci
# Run tests
- run: npm test
# Build
- run: npm run build --if-present46. Use Docker for Containerizing Angular Applications
Docker containers provide a consistent and isolated environment for running applications, ensuring they run the same way across different environments.
# Pull Node.js
FROM node:18-alpine
# Create and set the working directory
WORKDIR /project
# Install Angular CLI globally
RUN npm install -g @angular/cli@18
# Copy package.json and package-lock.json to the working directory
COPY package.json package-lock.json ./
# Install dependencies
RUN npm i
# Copy the rest of the application code
COPY . .
# Expose the default port
EXPOSE 4200
# Command to run the application
CMD ["ng", "serve", "--host", "0.0.0.0"]47. Leverage Angular’s Environment Configurations for Different Deployment Stages
Angular's environment configuration system allows you to define different settings for various deployment stages, such as development, staging, and production:
// src/environments/environment.ts
export const environment = {
production: false,
apiUrl: 'http://localhost:3000'
};
// src/environments/environment.prod.ts
export const environment = {
production: true,
apiUrl: 'https://api.myapp.com'
};
// Specify environment when building
ng build --configuration production48. Use Angular’s CLI Schematics for Project Automation
Create custom schematics or leverage existing ones to automate repetitive tasks, such as code generation and project setup. This enhances productivity and ensures consistency across projects.
49. Implement Version Control Best Practices with Git for Angular Projects
Use Git for version control to track changes, collaborate with team members, and manage different branches of your codebase. Be sure to follow best practices like meaningful commit messages, branching strategies, and code reviews.
50. Use Angular DevTools for Debugging and Profiling Angular Applications
Angular DevTools is a browser extension that provides debugging and profiling capabilities for Angular applications. It helps you identify performance bottlenecks and debug issues more effectively.
Summary
In this article, we've explored 50 essential tips and best practices for Angular development, covering a wide range of topics from basic best practices to advanced techniques, performance optimization, code quality, testing, Angular-specific features, and development workflow. Each tip provides actionable advice to help you optimize your Angular applications, improve code quality, and leverage Angular's powerful features effectively.
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By incorporating these techniques into your development process, you'll be able to create more efficient, scalable, and maintainable Angular applications. Happy coding!
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