Angular 17 Unveiled: A Closer Look at What's New

Angular is a framework which follows MVC(Model-View-Controller) pattern, infamous for being a sophisticated framework providing in-house features which fulfill every requirement to develop a fully functional, futuristic Front-end for applications catered to all kinds of platforms, be it web, desktop or smartphones.

Angular 17

Angular 17, dubbed as "Angular Renaissance" by its enthusiasts, bring various features like Deferrable Blocks, newer and Refined Control Flows and all new Inbuilt SSR(Server Side Rendering) and SSG(Static Site Generation) support from the get-go, angular has drastically changed to refresh the developer experience through the course of development.

Lets go through what angular 17 has with its new update. We will be covering:

• Deferrable Views

• New Control Flows

• SSR and SSG support.

Deferrable Views

A standout feature in Angular 17 is the introduction of Deferrable Views, a powerful tool for optimizing application performance. Deferrable Views allow developers to lazily load components onto the view. This means components are loaded only when needed, significantly improving application load times.
To implement Deferrable Views, Angular 17 introduces a new @defer directive. Here’s a simple example of how you can use it:

@defer {
  <app-movies-list/>
}

This code snippet demonstrates how to defer the loading of a MoviesList component, which will now load only when required, rather than during the initial application load.

Angular 17 offers various triggers for lazily loading components:

• on immediate — start lazily loading automatically, without blocking the browser.

• on viewport and on viewport(<ref>) — viewport also allows to specify a reference for an anchor element. When the anchor element is visible, Angular will lazily load the component and render it.

For more detailed information and advanced usage, the Angular documentation provides an extensive guide on the new @defer directive at Defer(angular.dev)

New Control Flows

Before angular 17, we have had many control flows like *ngIf, *ngFor, and *ngSwitch. These directives are used extensively during the development process but the learning curve for these is a bit steep, so angular 17 introduced new Syntax for control flows, we will look at some of most used control flows.

The built-in @if control-flow statement:

@if (loggedIn) {
  <app-dashboard/>
} @else {
  <app-not-authorized/>
}

This syntax is a welcome change, particularly because achieving an if-elseif-else structure was challenging with the *ngIf directive. The @if statement makes it easier and more straightforward to handle conditional rendering in templates.

The @for control-flow statement:

@for (movie of moviesList; track movie.id) {
  <p>{{ movie.name }}</p>
} @empty {
  <p>No Movies Found</p>
}

This example shows how @for streamlines the process of iterating over lists. The addition of the @empty block is particularly useful, as it allows for a cleaner and more integrated way to handle empty lists, which previously required combining *ngIf and *ngFor.

These new control flow statements in Angular 17 significantly improve code readability and reduce the learning curve for newcomers. For more detailed information and advanced usage, the Angular documentation provides an extensive guide on these new control flows at angular.dev(conditionals and loops)

Enhancing the Hybrid Rendering Experience in Angular 17

Angular 17 marks a significant step forward in bringing server-side rendering (SSR) and static-site generation (SSG) to the forefront of the development experience. This is evident right from the project initialization phase.

Simplified Initialization for SSR and SSG

When you create a new Angular project using the Angular CLI, you're now greeted with a streamlined process that integrates SSR and SSG options. This addition is demonstrated through a simple yet effective prompt in the ng new command:

C:\Users\GURURAJ>ng new my-app
? Which stylesheet format would you like to use? SCSS   [ https://sass-lang.com/documentation/syntax#scss
 ]
? Do you want to enable Server-Side Rendering (SSR) and Static Site Generation (SSG/Prerendering)? (y/N) Y

This user-friendly prompt significantly simplifies the decision-making process for developers considering hybrid rendering approaches for their applications.

Command Line Support for Enabling SSR

For those who prefer using the command line for project setup, Angular 17 also introduces a direct way to enable SSR in new projects:

   ng new my-app --ssr

This command sets up a new Angular application with SSR capabilities right from the start, reflecting Angular's commitment to a more robust and developer-friendly SSR experience.

Conclusion: Angular 17 - A Step Forward

Angular 17 introduces some exciting features that make developing web applications more intuitive and efficient. From the ease of Deferrable Views to the clarity of new control flows, and the improved SSR and SSG setup, this version is all about enhancing the developer experience.

Whether you're an experienced Angular developer or just starting out, these updates offer opportunities to improve your projects and workflow. I encourage you to try out these new features and see how they can streamline your development process.

As Angular continues to evolve, it's clear that staying updated with its latest versions can greatly benefit your web development endeavors. Happy coding with Angular 17!