Create an Angular App

Basic Angular Setup - Modules, Controllers, Views

Like a few frameworks we've seen, there's not a particular way to organize your application to make Angular work. We'll have to create our own, but let's try to keep it standard.

In your starter folder, you'll see some empty files and a couple of folders.

First, let's get Angular from Google's CDN and paste into script tag in the <head></head>

 <head>
   <meta charset="utf-8">
   <title>Intro to Angular</title>
   <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/angular.js/1.5.0/angular.js"></script>
 </head>

Now, we set up a module. Go to your app.js file, and all it takes is this little line:

// Define a new module. The first argument is what we want to call our app, the second is an array of dependencies (which we don't need at the moment, so there are none)
var introApp = angular.module('IntroToAngularApp', []);

This sets our app up. It's important to include that array when defining a module, even if there are no dependencies – that tells Angular we're initializing a module.

Now, back in our HTML, make sure your app.js is included in a script tag, and add an ng-app directive in the <html> tag.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html ng-app="IntroToAngularApp">
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <title>Intro to Angular</title>
    <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/angular.js/1.4.8/angular.js"></script>
    <script src="js/app.js"></script>
  </head>

Since we defined it in app.js with a name of IntroToAngularApp, we just reference what we named it here. This tells the HTML to use that module.

Now, let's just check to make sure it worked. If it worked correctly, we should be able to put some simple expression in our HTML, and Angular will render it.

<body>
{{ 1 + 1 }}
</body>

If Angular's working, it'll add our numbers together and spit out a 2 on the page – that's how templating works in Angular, inside curly brackets.

Open it up in a browser to check. And remember – if it doesn't work, check your browser's console for errors!

Create an Angular controller

So, in Angular's flavor of MVC, controllers are intended to primarily:

  1. Respond to user actions.

  2. Provide data to the view (occasionally referred to the view-model).

Now, lets stub out a new controller and plug it into our module:

Let's place the following in app.js

introApp.controller('HomeCtrl', ['$scope', function($scope) {

}]);

Pretty much everything you do in Angular will depend on a controller. You can add a controller to your module using the controller method which takes 2 parameters.

  • Name of the controller

  • An array containing the dependencies and initialization function for this controller.

Scope

The scope (represented in Angular as $scope) is where you will store all of your data in a controller. Any data stored in the scope will be available in the view within the DOM object that has the ng-controller directive.

Dependency Injection

To access the $scope object we need to inject it as a dependency. This is done by including it as a string in the array before the function AND defining it as a parameter within the function.

You can load as many dependencies as you want, but it is vital that the strings in the array are in the same order as the parameter in the function.

introApp.controller('HomeCtrl', ['$scope', '$http', function($scope, $http) {

}]);

In the above example we load $scope and $http. Notice the strings $scope and $http and the 2 parameters $string and $http. The strings tell it what to load and the parameters are how you access it within the function. This is done because the variables names can end up changing during JavaScript minification. You can technically name the parameters (in the function) whatever you want, but it's good practice to name them they same as the dependency that you are loading.

Side note: $http is the angular http (ajax) module. We'll learn about that later. It is just used above to demonstrate how to load multiple dependencies.

Initializing scope

Once you load the $scope dependency you just use it like any other object. You can define whatever keys you want and assign them any value. the value will then be available in the view.

introApp.controller('HomeCtrl', ['$scope', function($scope) {
  $scope.name = 'Bill Murray';
}]);

Load the controller on a page

Controllers can be attached to DOM elements using the ng-controller directive.

<div ng-controller="HomeCtrl"></div>

Then you can reference variables attached to $scope in the view like this:

<div ng-controller="HomeCtrl">
  Hello, {{name}}
</div>

Two-way data binding

Angular uses two-way data binding. This means that if any data in $scope is changed in the controller, it is reflected in the view AND if the data is changed in the view, it is updated in the controller.

ng-model

The easiest way to achieve two-way data binding is using the ng-model directive. ng-model can be used on any form element and creates a two-way data binding to the value of the $scope key specified.

Expanding on the example above (same controller code) you can do the following...

<div ng-controller="HomeCtrl">
  Hello, {{name}}
  <input type="text" ng-model="name">
</div>

Now if the user types something into the input box, $scope.name will be updated in the controller, which also means the {{name}} will be updated to match.

Handling user events

Angular can also handle user events using other directives. One of the most common directives is ng-click.

ng-click

To detect a click event we use the ng-click directive and give it a function to call when the user clicks an element. This function is attached to the $scope just like a value.

introApp.controller('HomeCtrl', ['$scope', function($scope) {
  //default
  $scope.happy = false;

  //toggle function
  $scope.toggleHappy = function() {
    $scope.happy = !$scope.happy;
  }
}]);
<button ng-click="toggleHappy()">Toggle Happy</button>
<p>{{happy}}</p>

clicking the button will cause happy to switch $scope.happy true to false.

Alternatively, you can put any code directly in the ng-click, but it is generally smart to use functions instead. However, for simple one-liners, it's generally OK.

<button ng-click="happy = !happy;">Toggle Happy</button>
<p>{{happy}}</p>

Again, notice that in the controller it is $scope.happy, but in the view (html) it is just happy (without $scope).

Controllers Instantiate Data

As a wrapup to Angular, know that controllers are just functions that can include dependencies and data instantiation. Every time the ng-controller directive is used, a controller is instantiated. To illustrate this, try to copy/paste your controller div and see what happens.

<body>
  <div ng-controller="HomeCtrl">
    Hello, {{name}}
    <input type="text" ng-model="name">

    <div>
      <button ng-click="happy = !happy;">Toggle Happy</button>
      <p>{{happy}}</p>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div ng-controller="HomeCtrl">
    Hello, {{name}}
    <input type="text" ng-model="name">

    <div>
      <button ng-click="happy = !happy;">Toggle Happy</button>
      <p>{{happy}}</p>
    </div>
  </div>
</body>

You'll see that each instance of ng-controller has its own set of data. Pretty sweet!

Conclusion

As you can see, the structure of Angular differs significantly from other frontend frameworks we've been using, like jQuery. Take a moment and review:

  • How do you make modules and controllers in Angular?

  • What must we do in order to bootstrap an Angular app to a page?

  • Compare and contrast jQuery and AngularJS in the context of adding a click event.

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