Why to upgrade to Angular 2
Introduction of Angular 2
Angular 2 is one of the most popular platforms which are a successor to Google Angular 1 framework. With its help, Angular JS developers can build complex applications in browsers and beyond. Angular 2 is not only the next or advanced version of Angular 1, it is fully redesigned and rewritten. Thus, the architecture of Angular 2 is completely different from Angular 1. This tutorial looks at the various aspects of Angular 2 framework which includes the basics of the framework, the setup of Angular and how to work with the various aspects of the framework. Unlike its predecessor, Angular 2 is a TypeScript-based, web application development platform that makes the switch from MVC (model-view-controller) to a components-based approach to web development.
Benefits of Angular 2
Mobile Support: Though the Ionic framework has always worked well with Angular, the platform offers better mobile support with the version 2. The 1.x version compromised heavily on user experience and application performance in general. With its built-in mobile-orientation, Angular 2.0 is more geared for cross-platform mobile application development.
Faster and Modern Browsers: Faster and modern browsers are demanded by developers today. Developers want Angular 2 stress more on browsers like IE10/11, Chrome, Firefox, Opera & Safari on the desktop and Chrome on Android, Windows Phone 8+, iOS6 & Firefox mobile. Developers believe that this would allow AngularJS codebase to be short and compact and AngularJS would support the latest and greatest features without worrying about backward compatibility and polyfills. This would simplify the AngularJS app development process.
High Performance: Angular2 uses superset of JavaScript which is highly optimized which makes the app and web to load faster. Angular2 loads quickly with component router. It helps in automatic code splitting so user only load code required to vendor the view. Many modules are removed from angular’s core, resulting in better performance means you will be able to pick and choose the part you need.
Changing World of Web: The web has changed noticeably and no doubt it will continue changing in the future as well. The current version of AngularJS cannot work with the new web components like custom elements, HTML imports; shadow DOM etc. which allow developers to create fully encapsulated custom elements. Developers anticipate with all hopes that Angular 2 must fully support all web components.
Component Based Development: A component is an independent software unit that can be composed with the other components to create a software system. Component based web development is pretty much future of web development. Angular2 is focused on component base development. Angularjs require entire stack to be written using angular but angular2 emphasis separation of components /allow segmentation within the app to be written independently. Developers can concentrate on business logic only. These things are not just features but the requirement of any thick-client web framework.
Why to upgrade to Angular 2 ?
Angular 2 is entirely component-based and even the final application is a component of the platform. Components and directives have replaced controllers and scopes. Even the specification for directives has been simplified and will probably further improve. They are the communication channels for components and run in the browser with elements and events. Angular 2 components have their own injector so you no longer have to work with a single injector for the entire application. With an improved dependency injection model, there are more opportunities for component or object-based work.
Optimized for Mobile- Angular 2 has been carefully optimized for boasting improved memory efficiency, enhanced mobile performance, and fewer CPU cycles. It’s as clear of an indication as any that Angular 2 is going to serve as a mobile-first framework in order to encourage the mobile app development process. This version also supports sophisticated touch and gesture events across modern tablet and mobile devices.
Typescript Support- Angular 2 uses Typescript and variety of concepts common in back-end. That is why it is more back-end developer-friendly. It's worth noting that dependency injection container makes use of metadata generated by Typescript. Another important facet is IDE integration is that it makes easier to scale large projects through refactoring your whole code base at the same time. If you are interested in Typescript, the docs are a great place to begin with. Moreover, Typescript usage improves developer experience thanks to good support from text editors and IDE's. With libraries like React already using Typescript, web/mobile app developers can implement the library in their Angular 2 project seamlessly.
Modular Development- Angular 1 created a fair share of headaches when it came to loading modules or deciding between Require.js and Web Pack. Fortunately, these decisions are removed entirely from Angular 2 as the new release shies away from ineffective modules to make room for performance improvements. Angular 2 also integrates System.js, a universal dynamic modular loader, which provides an environment for loading ES6, Common, and AMD modules.
$scope Out, Components in- Angular 2 gets rid of controllers and $scope. You may wonder how you’re going to stitch your homepage together! Well, don’t worry too much − Angular 2 introduces Components as an easier way to build complex web apps and pages. Angular 2 utilizes directives (DOMs) and components (templates). In simple terms, you can build individual component classes that act as isolated parts of your pages. Components then are highly functional and customizable directives that can be configured to build and specify classes, selectors, and views for companion templates. Angular 2 components make it possible to write code that won’t interfere with other pieces of code within the component itself.
Native Mobile Development- The best part about Angular 2 is “it’s more framework-oriented”. This means the code you write for mobile/tablet devices will need to be converted using a framework like Ionic or Native Script. One single skillset and code base can be used to scale and build large architectures of code and with the integration of a framework (like, you guessed it, NativeScript or Ionic); you get a plethora of room to be flexible with the way your native applications function.
Code Syntax Changes- One more notable feature of Angular 2 is that it adds more than a few bells and whistles to the syntax usage. This comprises (but is not limited to) improving data-binding with properties inputs, changing the way routing works, changing an appearance of directives syntax, and, finally, improving the way local variables that are being used widely. One more notable feature of Angular 2 is that it adds more than a few bells and whistles to the syntax usage. This comprises improving data-binding with properties inputs, changing the way routing works, changing an appearance of directives syntax, and, finally, improving the way local variables that are being used widely.
Comparison between Angular 1 and Angular 2
Angular 1
In order to create service use provider, factory, service, constant and value
In order to automatically detection changed use $scope, $watch, $scope, $apply, $timeout.
Syntax event for example ng-click
Syntax properties for example ng-hid, ng-checked
It use Filter
Angular 2
In order to create service use only class
In order to automatically detection changed use Zone.js.
Syntax event for example (click) or (dbl-click)
Syntax properties for example [class: hidden] [checked]
It use pipe
How to migrate Angular 1 to Angular 2
It is a very simple and easy task to upgrade Angular 1 to Angular 2, but this has to be done only if the applications demand it. In this article, I will suggest a number of ways which could be taken into consideration in order to migrate existing applications from Angular 1.x to 2. Therefore, depending on the organizational need, the appropriate migration approach should be used.
Upgrading to Angular 2 is quite an easy step to take, but one that should be made carefully. There are two major ways to feel the taste of Angular 2 in your project. Which you use depends on whatever requirements your project has. The angular team have provided two paths to this:
ngForward
ngForward is not a real upgrade framework for Angular 2 but instead we can use it to create Angular 1 apps that look like Angular 2.
If you still feel uncomfortable upgrading your existing application to Angular 2, you can fall to ngForward to feel the taste and sweetness of the good tidings Angular 2 brings but still remain in your comfort zone.
You can either re-write your angular app gradually to look as if it was written in Angular 2 or add features in an Angular 2 manner leaving the existing project untouched. Another benefit that comes with this is that it prepares you and your team for the future even when you choose to hold onto the past for a little bit longer. I will guide you through a basic setup to use ngForward but in order to be on track, have a look at the Quick Start for Angular 2.
If you took time to review the Quick Start as I suggested, you won't be lost with the configuration. SystemJS is used to load the Angular application after it has been bootstrapped as we will soon see. Finally in our app.ts, we can code like its Angular 2.
ngUpgrade
Writing an Angular 1.x app that looks like Angular 2 is not good enough. We need the real stuff. The challenge then becomes that with a large existing Angular 1.x project, it becomes really difficult to re-write our entire app to Angular 2, and even using ngForward would not be ideal. This is where ngUpgrade comes to our aid. ngUpgrade is the real stuff.
Unlike ngForward, ngUpgrade was covered clearly in the Angular 2 docs. If you fall in the category of developers that will take this path, then spare few minutes and digest this.
We'll also be writing more articles on upgrading to Angular 2 and we'll focus more on ngUpgrade in a future article.
