Angular CLI (Command Line Interface) is a powerful and widely used command-line tool for developing, building, testing, and deploying Angular applications. It simplifies the process of setting up, configuring, and managing Angular projects, providing a consistent and efficient development workflow. Angular CLI is an official tool maintained by the Angular team at Google.
Key features and capabilities of Angular CLI include:
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Project Generation:
- Angular CLI allows you to create new Angular projects with a simple command. For example, to create a new project named "my-app," you can run:
ng new my-app
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Project Structure:
- Angular CLI sets up a standardized project structure with best practices, making it easy for developers to navigate and organize their code.
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Development Server:
- Angular CLI includes a built-in development server that allows you to run and test your Angular application locally. The development server supports live reloading, so changes to the source code are reflected in the browser without manual refresh.
ng serve
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Code Generation:
- Angular CLI provides code generation commands for generating components, services, modules, directives, and more. This helps developers follow Angular best practices and reduces the boilerplate code they need to write.
ng generate component my-component
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Build and Optimization:
- Angular CLI simplifies the process of building and bundling an Angular application for production. The build process includes features like Ahead-of-Time (AOT) compilation and minification to optimize the application for performance.
ng build --prod
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Testing:
- Angular CLI integrates with testing frameworks like Jasmine and Karma, making it easy to run unit tests for Angular components, services, and other modules.
ng test
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Linting:
- Angular CLI includes linting tools to analyze your code for potential issues, ensuring that your code adheres to coding standards and best practices.
ng lint
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Dependency Management:
- Angular CLI manages dependencies and allows you to easily add or update Angular libraries and other third-party packages in your project.
ng add @angular/material
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Deployment
- Angular CLI provides commands to deploy your application to various hosting platforms. The deployment process involves creating a production-ready build and deploying the compiled files.
ng deploy
Angular CLI abstracts away many of the complexities of setting up an Angular project and provides a consistent interface for developers. This helps ensure that developers can focus more on building features and less on the configuration and setup of their development environment.