Angular Cheatsheet
Set of basic functionalities from Angular in one place. Thanks to http://foreach.pl for contribute
Check also other Cheatsheets:
Table of Contents
- AngularCli
- Components and Templates
- Routing
- Modules
- Services
- Pipes
- Directives
- Animations
- Angular Forms
- Tests
- Others
- Interview questions
AngularCLI
Command line inferface for Angular - set of commands that will help us during development.
1. Setup
Command | Description |
---|---|
npm install -g @angular/cli | Install Angular CLI globally |
2. New application
Command | Description |
---|---|
ng new best-practises --dry-run | just simulate ng new |
ng new best-practises --skip-install | skip install means don't run npm install |
ng new best-practises --prefix best | set prefix to best |
ng new --help | check available command list |
3. Lint - check and make sure that our code if free of code smells/ bad formatting
Command | Description |
---|---|
ng lint my-app --help | check available command list |
ng lint my-app --format stylish | format code |
ng lint my-app --fix | fix code smells |
ng lint my-app | show warnings |
4. Blueprints
Command | Description |
---|---|
ng g c my-component --flat true | don't create new folder for this component |
--inline-template (-t) | will the template be in .ts file? |
--inline-style (-s) | will the style be in .ts file? |
--spec | generate spec? |
--prefix | assign own prefix |
ng g d directive-name | create directive |
ng g s service-name | create service |
ng g cl models/customer | create customer class in models folder |
ng g i models/person | create create interface in models folder |
ng g e models/gender | create create ENUM gender in models folder |
ng g p init-caps | create create pipe |
5. Building&Serving
Command | Description |
---|---|
ng build | build app to /dist folder |
ng build --aot | build app without code that we don't need (optimatization) |
ng build --prod | build for production |
ng serve -o | serve with opening a browser |
ng serve --live-reload | reload when changes occur |
ng serve -ssl | serving using SSL |
6. Add new capabilities
Command | Description |
---|---|
ng add @angular/material | add angular material to project |
ng g @angular/material:material-nav --name nav | create material navigation component |
Components and Templates
Components are the most basic UI building block of an Angular app. An Angular app contains a tree of Angular components.
Sample component ts file
import { Component } from '@angular/core';
@Component({
// component attributes
selector: 'app-root',
templateUrl: './app.component.html',
styleUrls: ['./app.component.less']
})
export class AppComponent {
title = 'my-dogs-training';
}
Component attributes
Attribute | Description |
---|---|
changeDetection | The change-detection strategy to use for this component. |
viewProviders | Defines the set of injectable objects that are visible to its view DOM children |
moduleId | The module ID of the module that contains the component |
encapsulation | An encapsulation policy for the template and CSS styles |
interpolation | Overrides the default encapsulation start and end delimiters ({{ and }} |
entryComponents | A set of components that should be compiled along with this component. |
preserveWhitespaces | True to preserve or false to remove potentially superfluous whitespace characters from the compiled template. |
Component life cycles
Life cycle | Description |
---|---|
ngOnInit | Called once, after the first ngOnChanges() |
ngOnChanges | Called before ngOnInit() and whenever one of input properties change. |
ngOnDestroy | Called just before Angular destroys the directive/component |
ngDoCheck | Called during every change detection run |
ngAfterContentChecked | Called after the ngAfterContentInit() and every subsequent ngDoCheck() |
ngAfterViewChecked | Called after the ngAfterViewInit() and every subsequent ngAfterContentChecked(). |
ngAfterContentInit | Called once after the first ngDoCheck(). |
ngAfterViewInit | Called once after the first ngAfterContentChecked(). |
Template syntax
Syntax | Description |
---|---|
{{user.name}} | Interpolation - just generate user name here |
<img [src] = "user.imageUrl"> | property binding - bind image url for user to src attribute |
<button (click)="do()" ... /> | Event - assign function to click event |
<button *ngIf="user.showSth" ... /> | Show button when user.showSth is true |
*ngFor="let item of items" | Iterate through items list |
<div [ngClass]="{green: isTrue(), bold: itTrue()}"/> | Angular ngClass attribute |
<div [ngStyle]="{'color': isTrue() ? '#bbb' : '#ccc'}"/> | Angular ngStyle attribute |
Input and Output
Input() To pass value into child component
Sample child component implementation
export class SampleComponent {
@Input() value: any/string/object/…;
...
}
Sample parent component usage
<app-sample-component [value]="myValue"></app-sampe-component>
Output() Emiting event to parent component
Sample child component
@Output() myEvent: EventEmitter<MyModel> = new EventEmitter();
onRemoved(item: MyModel) {
this.myEvent.emit(item);
}
Sample parent component
<app-my-component
(myEvent)="someFunction()"></app-my-component>
onRemoved in child component is calling someFunction in parent component
Content projection
Content projection is injection inner html into child component
Example:
Parent component template
<component>
<div>
(some html here)
</div>
</component>
Child component template
<ng-content></ng-content>
(some html here) will be injection into
Two differents htmls
<component>
<div well-title>
(some html here)
</div>
<div well-body>
(some html here)
</div>
</component>
<ng-content select="title"></ng-content>
<ng-content select="body"></ng-content>
ViewChild decorator
In order to have access to child component/directive/element
@ViewChild(NumberComponent)
private numberComponent: NumberComponent;
increase() {
this.numberComponent.increaseByOne(); //method from child component
}
decrease() {
this.numberComponent.decreaseByOne(); //method from child component
}
Sample for element: html:
<div #myElement></div>
component:
@ViewChild('myElement') myElement: ElementRef
Instead of ElementRef can be used specific element like FormControl for forms.
Reference to element in html:
<button (click)="doSth(myElement)"></button>
Routing
The Angular Router enables navigation from one view to the next as users perform application tasks.
Sample routing ts file
const appRoutes: Routes = [
{ path: 'crisis-center', component: CrisisListComponent },
{ path: 'hero/:id', component: HeroDetailComponent },
{
path: 'heroes',
component: HeroListComponent,
data: { title: 'Heroes List' }
},
{ path: '',
redirectTo: '/heroes',
pathMatch: 'full'
},
{ path: '**', component: PageNotFoundComponent }
];
Then this should be added inside Angular.module imports
RouterModule.forRoot(appRoutes)
You can also turn on console tracking for your routing by adding enableTracing
imports: [
RouterModule.forRoot(
routes,
{enableTracing: true}
)
],
Usage
<a routerLink="/crisis-center" routerLinkActive="active">Crisis Center</a>
routerLinkActive="active" will add active class to element when the link's route becomes active
//Navigate from code
this.router.navigate(['/heroes']);
// with parameters
this.router.navigate(['/heroes', { id: heroId, foo: 'foo' }]);
// Receive parameters without Observable
let id = this.route.snapshot.paramMap.get('id');
CanActivate and CanDeactivate
Interface that a class can implement to be a guard deciding if a route can be activated. If all guards return true, navigation will continue.
class AlwaysAuthGuard implements CanActivate {
canActivate() {
return true;
}
}
and assing it in routing module:
{
path: 'artist/:artistId',
component: ArtistComponent,
canActivate: [AlwaysAuthGuard],
children: [
{path: '', redirectTo: 'tracks'},
{path: 'tracks', component: ArtistTrackListComponent},
{path: 'albums', component: ArtistAlbumListComponent},
]
}
Modules
Angular apps are modular and Angular has its own modularity system called NgModules. NgModules are containers for a cohesive block of code dedicated to an application domain, a workflow, or a closely related set of capabilities.
Sample module with comments
import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { NgModule } from '@angular/core';
import { AppRoutingModule } from './app-routing.module';
import { AppComponent } from './app.component';
@NgModule({
declarations: [AppComponent], // components, pipes, directives
imports: [BrowserModule, AppRoutingModule], // other modules
providers: [], // services
bootstrap: [AppComponent] // top component
})
export class AppModule { }
Services
Components shouldn't fetch or save data directly and they certainly shouldn't knowingly present fake data. They should focus on presenting data and delegate data access to a service.
Sample service with one function
@Injectable()
export class MyService {
public items: Item[];
constructor() { }
getSth() {
// some implementation
}
}
Usage It should be injected before usage
constructor(private dogListService: MyService)
and add in module:
providers: [MyService]
HttpClient
To handle and consume http requests
- Add import to module
import { HttpClientModule} from "@angular/common/http";
- Usage
import {HttpClient} from '@angular/common/http';
...
// GET
public getData(): Observable<MyResponseModel> {
return this.http.get<MyResponseModel>('api/users/2');
}
// POST
public send(val1: any, val2: any): Observable<any> {
const object = new SendModel(val1, val2);
const options = {headers: new HttpHeaders({'Content-type': 'application/json'})};
return this.http.post<string>(environment.apiUrl + 'api/login', object, options);
}
Dependency Injection
Inject class into another class
@Injectable({
providedIn: 'root',
})
export class SomeService {}
It accepts 'root' as a value or any module of your application
Declare global values
class:
import {InjectionToken} from '@angular/core';
export const CONTROLS_GLOBAL_CONFIG = new InjectionToken<ControlsConfig>('global-values');
export interface ControlsConfig {firstGlobalValue: string;}
module:
providers: [{provide: CONTROLS_GLOBAL_CONFIG, useValue: {firstGlobalValue : 'Some value' }},
usage (for example in component)
constructor(@Optional() @Inject(CONTROLS_GLOBAL_CONFIG) globalVlues: ControlsConfig) {
Pipes
Transform data/value to specific format, for example:
Show date in shortDate format:
{{model.birthsDay | date:'shortDate'}}
Pipe implementation
@Pipe({name: 'uselessPipe'})
export class uselessPipe implements PipeTransform {
transform(value: string, before: string, after: string): string {
let newStr = `${before} ${value} ${after}`;
return newStr;
}
}
usage
{{ user.name | uselessPipe:"Mr.":"the great" }}
Directives
An Attribute directive changes the appearance or behavior of a DOM element. For example [ngStyle] is a directive
Custom directive
import { Directive, ElementRef, HostListener, Input } from '@angular/core';
@Directive({
selector: '[appHighlight]'
})
export class HighlightDirective {
constructor(private el: ElementRef) { }
@Input('appHighlight') highlightColor: string;
@Input('otherPar') otherPar: any; //it will be taken from other attribute named [otherPar]
@HostListener('mouseenter') onMouseEnter() {
this.highlight(this.highlightColor || 'red');
}
private highlight(color: string) {
this.el.nativeElement.style.backgroundColor = color;
}
}
Usage
<p [appHighlight]="color" [otherPar]="someValue">Highlight me!</p>
Animations
Animations - moving from style state to another style state. Before add BrowserModule and BrowserAnimationsModule to module
Implementation:
animations: [
trigger('openClose', [
state('open', style({
height: '400px',
opacity: 1.5,
})),
state('closed', style({
height: '100px',
opacity: 0.5,
})),
transition('open => closed', [
animate('1s')
]),
transition('closed => open', [
animate('1s')
])
])
]
usage
<div [@openClose]="isShowed ? 'open' : 'closed'">
Angular Forms
Template driven forms
Form logic (validation, properties) are kept in template
sample html
<form name="form" (ngSubmit)="f.form.valid && onSubmit()" #f="ngForm" novalidate>
<div class="form-group">
<label for="firstName">First Name</label>
<input type="text" class="form-control" name="firstName" [(ngModel)]="model.firstName" #firstName="ngModel" [ngClass]="{ 'is-invalid': f.submitted && firstName.invalid }" required />
<div *ngIf="f.submitted && firstName.invalid" class="invalid-feedback">
<div *ngIf="firstName.errors.required">First Name is required</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="form-group">
<button class="btn btn-primary">Register</button>
</div>
</form>
sample component
@ViewChild("f") form: any;
firstName: string = "";
langs: string[] = ["English", "French", "German"];
onSubmit() {
if (this.form.valid) {
console.log("Form Submitted!");
this.form.reset();
}
}
Reactive forms
Form logic (validation, properties) are kept in component
sample html
<form [formGroup]="registerForm" (ngSubmit)="onSubmit()">
<div class="form-group">
<label>Email</label>
<input type="text" formControlName="email" class="form-control" [ngClass]="{ 'is-invalid': submitted && f.email.errors }" />
<div *ngIf="submitted && f.email.errors" class="invalid-feedback">
<div *ngIf="f.email.errors.required">Email is required</div>
<div *ngIf="f.email.errors.email">Email must be a valid email address</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="form-group">
<button [disabled]="loading" class="btn btn-primary">Register</button>
</div>
</form>
sample component
registerForm: FormGroup;
submitted = false;
constructor(private formBuilder: FormBuilder) { }
ngOnInit() {
this.registerForm = this.formBuilder.group({
firstName: [{{here default value}}, Validators.required],
lastName: ['', Validators.required],
email: ['', [Validators.required, Validators.email]],
password: ['', [Validators.required, Validators.minLength(6)]]
});
}
// convenience getter for easy access to form fields
get f() { return this.registerForm.controls; }
onSubmit() {
this.submitted = true;
// stop here if form is invalid
if (this.registerForm.invalid) {
return;
}
alert('SUCCESS!! :-)')
}
Custom Validator for Reactive forms
Function
validateUrl(control: AbstractControl) {
if (!control.value || control.value.includes('.png') || control.value.includes('.jpg')) {
return null;
}
return { validUrl: true };
}
Usage
this.secondFormGroup = this._formBuilder.group({
imageCtrl: ['', [Validators.required, this.validateUrl]]
});
Multi-field validation
validateNameShire(group: FormGroup) {
if (group) {
if (group.get('isShireCtrl').value && !group.get('nameCtrl').value.toString().toLowerCase().includes('shire')) {
return { nameShire : true };
}
}
return null;
}
Multi-field validation usage*
this.firstFormGroup.setValidators(this.validateNameShire);
Error handling
<div *ngIf="firstFormGroup.controls.nameCtrl.errors.maxlength">Name is too long</div>
<div *ngIf="firstFormGroup.errors.nameShire">Shire dogs should have "shire" in name</div>
Custom Validator Directive for Template driven forms
To register our custom validation directive to NG_VALIDATORS service we have to do it like this: (thanks to multi parameter we won't override NG_VALIDATORS but just add CustomValidator to NG_VALIDATORS)
@Directive({
selector: '[CustomValidator]',
providers: [{provide: NG_VALIDATORS, useExisting: CustomValidator, multi:true}]
})
Example:
@Directive({
selector: '[customValidation]',
providers: [{provide: NG_VALIDATORS, useExisting: EmailValidationDirective, multi: true}]
})
export class CustomValidation implements Validator {
constructor() { }
validate(control: AbstractControl): ValidationErrors {
return (control.value && control.value.length <= 300) ?
{myValue : true } : null;
}
}
For multiple fields:
validate(formGroup: FormGroup): ValidationErrors {
const passwordControl = formGroup.controls["password"];
const emailControl = formGroup.controls["login"];
if (!passwordControl || !emailControl || !passwordControl.value || !emailControl.value) {
return null;
}
if (passwordControl.value.length > emailControl.value.length) {
passwordControl.setErrors({ tooLong: true });
} else {
passwordControl.setErrors(null);
}
return formGroup;
}
ngModel in custom component
- Add to module:
providers: [
{
provide: NG_VALUE_ACCESSOR,
useExisting: forwardRef(() => TextAreaComponent),
multi: true
}
]
- Implement ControlValueAccessor interface
interface ControlValueAccessor {
writeValue(obj: any): void
registerOnChange(fn: any): void
registerOnTouched(fn: any): void
setDisabledState(isDisabled: boolean)?: void
}
Function | Description |
---|---|
registerOnChange | Register a function to tell Angular when the value of the input changes |
registerOnTouched | Register a function to tell Angular when the value was touched |
writeValue | tell Angular how to Write a value to the input |
Sample implementation:
@Component({
selector: 'app-text-area',
templateUrl: './text-area.component.html',
styleUrls: ['./text-area.component.less'],
providers: [
{
provide: NG_VALUE_ACCESSOR,
useExisting: forwardRef(() => TextAreaComponent),
multi: true
}
]
})
export class TextAreaComponent implements ControlValueAccessor, OnInit {
@Input() value: string;
private _onChange = (data: any) => { console.log('changed: ' + data); };
private _onTouched = (data?: any) => {console.log('touched: ' + data); };
ngOnInit(): void {
const self = this;
}
constructor() {}
writeValue(obj: any): void {
this.value = obj;
}
registerOnChange(fn) {
this._onChange = fn;
}
registerOnTouched(fn: any): void {
this._onTouched = fn;
}
}
Tests
Unit tests
Service
describe('MyService', () => {
let service: MyService;
beforeEach(() => service = new MyService();
it('#fetch should update data', () => {
service.fetchData();
expect(service.data.length).toBe(4);
expect(service.data[0].id).toBe(1);
});
});
For async functions
it('#fetch should update data', (done: DoneFn) => {
// some code
done(); // we need 'done' to avoid test finishing before date was received
// some code
});
example async test:
it('http client works', (done: DoneFn) => {
service.getUser().subscribe((data) => {
expect(data).toBe('test');
done();
});
});
Spy and stub
Spy:
// create spied object by copy getDataAsync from HttpService
const valueServiceSpy =
jasmine.createSpyObj('HttpService', ['getDataAsync']);
Stub:
const stubValue = of('StubValue');
valueServiceSpy.getDataAsync.and.returnValue(stubValue);
TestBed Mock whole module/environment for unit tests
beforeEach(() => {
let httpClientMock = TestBed.configureTestingModule({ providers: [{ provide: MyService, useValue: new MyService(httpClientMock)}] });
});
Then use tested object (for example service) like this:
service = TestBed.get(MyService);
we can add schemas: [NO_ERRORS_SCHEMA]. This means that we don’t have to mock children component dependencies of this component as Angular won’t yell at us anymore for our lack of doing so.
Others
Http interceptor
Intercepts and handles an HttpRequest or HttpResponse.
Class:
@Injectable()
export class MyInterceptor implements HttpInterceptor {
constructor() { }
intercept(request: HttpRequest<any>, next: HttpHandler): Observable<HttpEvent<any>> {
// do sth (like check and throw error)
return next.handle(request); //if want continue
}
}
Module:
{ provide: HTTP_INTERCEPTORS, useClass: TokenInterceptor, multi: true },
host
Refer to host element/component
Value | Description |
---|---|
:host(selector) { ... } | to match attributes, classes on the host element and add styling to it |
:host-context(selector) { ... } | to match elements, classes on parent components and add styling to it |
:host ::ng-deep | styling will be applied also to all child components |
Interview questions
When would you use the useFactory provider method?
With useFactory we can use a factory at runtime to decide which kind of service we want to return if it got requested by any other class in our application or you need to parameterize the construction of a service
export function sampleFactory() {
return new Service1();
}
export class Service1 {}
@Injectable({
providedIn: 'root',
useFactory: xyzFactory
})
export class Service2 {}
Service1 will be injected into another class
What is router-outlet
Acts as a placeholder that Angular dynamically fills based on the current router state. Generally in place of your main app component will be generated
How to declare global value?
Use InjectionToken
Which decorator lets you inject a service registered with an Injection Token?
@Inject
for example
@Inject(CONTROLS_GLOBAL_CONFIG) globalVlues: ControlsConfig
How to mimick environment for components/services in tests?
Use TestBed. See Unit tests
What is Resolve interface?
Interface that classes can implement to be a data provider for component while routing.
example:
@Injectable()
class UserResolver implements Resolve<User> {
constructor(private service: MySampleService) {}
resolve(
route: ActivatedRouteSnapshot,
state: RouterStateSnapshot
): Observable<any> {
return this.service.fetchData(route.params.id);
}
}
@NgModule({
imports: [
RouterModule.forRoot([
{
path: 'user/:id',
component: UserComponent,
resolve: {
userData: UserResolver
}
}
])
],
providers: [UserResolver]
})
We can use it to pre-load data for a component before the component is displayed
How to begin validation after the user will enter a value and pause?
Use debounceTime, for example
this.formCtrlSub = this.firstNameControl.valueChanges
.debounceTime(1000)
.subscribe(newValue => this.firstName = newValue);
What is valueChanges in form control?
To catch value changes and implement some logic in observable result. See example above
How to execute canActivate if any of child routes will change?
Use canActivateChild
What are compilation types in Angular?
Type | Description |
---|---|
AoT | Ahead of time - compile full application / module when application was opened. Used mainly on production |
JiT | Just in time - compile specific element when it has been opened. Used mainly while programming |
Ivy | Since Angular 8 - engine based on concept Incremental DOM |
What is ng-content in Angular?
See ng-content
How to create application with cutom prefix?
ng new app-name --prefix my-cutom-prefix
What is module lazy loading?
Instead of loading all modules while app starts we can load particular module when needed.
const routes: Routes = [
{
path: 'users',
loadChildren: () => import('./users/users.module').then(m => m.UserModule)
}
This is usually used for big apps in order to improve performance
Why should we consider using ngIf instead of ngClass/ngStyle for hiding element?
ngIf won't generate element when condition result is fale, so html will be lighter. ngClass/ngStyle will just hide element but it will be still existing in DOM
What is Done() function in tests?
We need 'done' to avoid test finishing before date was received See done
What "import", "providers" and "declarations" stand for in NgModule?
declarations: [AppComponent], // components, pipes, directives
imports: [BrowserModule, AppRoutingModule], // other modules
providers: [], // services
See Sample module
Explain the difference between Constructor and ngOnInit
Constructor is a method assigned to a class, so it is called when class object was initialized. ngOnInit is part of Component life cycle and it is dependent on the current state of view initialization. Constructor is called before ngOnInit
What is a difference between ElementRef and TemplateRef?
ElementRef is reference to particular element while TemplateRef can refer to whole ng-template
<ng-template #test>
Test
</ng-template>
export class SthComponent {
@ViewChild('msg')
private testTempRef : TemplateRef<any>
}
Point all data biding ways for element
Bindint type | Example |
---|---|
Property binding | [src]="this.src" |
Event binding | (click)="this.doSth()" |
Two way data bidning | [(ngModel)]="this.form.userName" |
How to handle ngModel property in custom component?
Implement ControlValueAccessor interface. See ngModel
What is differenct between default and onPush change detector?
default change detector will check bidnings in whole application component tree after event OnPush change detector informs Angular that our component biding is depend on input parameters. Moreover it won't check bindings in whole application but only in subtree where our component belongs.
Why is it better to use pure pipes instead of some functions in template view?
If we want to calculate for example user age and show it on template then we can do it with function:
{{this.getUserAge(user.birthDate)}}
But it will be calculated every time when change detector is run, so it can affect on performance. Instead we can use pipe for that:
{{user.birthDate | calculateAge}}
Now age calculation won't be performed so many times.
How to detect change for any @Input property?
Use ngOnChanges hook
ngOnChanges(values) {
// logic here
}
How to detect change for specific @Input in component?
Use 'set' accessor
@Input() set name(value) {
// some logic here
}