In Angular, components are the building blocks of the user interface. They encapsulate the logic, structure, and behavior of a part of the UI, typically representing a section or a reusable piece of the application's user interface.
Characteristics of Angular Components:
-
Encapsulation:
- Components encapsulate HTML templates, CSS styles, and the logic that controls the view behavior into a single unit.
-
Reusability:
- Components are reusable, allowing you to use the same component in multiple parts of the application.
-
Modularity:
- They promote modularity by breaking the application into smaller, manageable parts.
-
Structure and Behavior:
- Each component has its own structure (HTML template) and behavior (defined in TypeScript) that interact to create the UI and handle user interactions.
-
Lifecycle Hooks:
- Angular provides lifecycle hooks that allow developers to tap into different stages of a component's lifecycle, enabling actions or logic at specific points (e.g., initialization, destruction, data changes).
Anatomy of an Angular Component:
-
Component Class:
- Contains the TypeScript code that defines the component's behavior, properties, methods, and interacts with data.
-
Template:
- Represents the component's view, written in HTML with placeholders and bindings to display data or respond to events.
-
Metadata:
-
Includes decorators such as
@Component
that provide additional information about the component (e.g., selector, template, styles).
-
Includes decorators such as
Example of an Angular Component:
import { Component } from '@angular/core';
@Component({
selector: 'app-example',
templateUrl: './example.component.html',
styleUrls: ['./example.component.css']
})
export class ExampleComponent {
title: string = 'Hello, Angular!';
count: number = 0;
increment() {
this.count++;
}
}
In this example:
-
@Component
decorator is used to define the component. -
selector
defines the HTML tag used to represent this component. -
templateUrl
points to the HTML template file for the component. -
styleUrls
links to the CSS styles for the component. -
ExampleComponent
class defines properties (title, count
) and methods (increment()
).
Using the Component in HTML:
<!-- Example of using the 'app-example' component -->
<app-example></app-example>
Summary:
Components are essential in Angular development as they enable the creation of reusable, modular, and maintainable user interface elements. They represent individual parts of an application's UI and encapsulate both the structure and behavior required for that part of the application.