In this groundbreaking release, the Angular team unveiled the following:
- Deferrable Views. Elevating both performance and the developer experience to unprecedented heights.
- Up to 90% Faster Runtime. Experience a remarkable speed boost with built-in control flow loops, as validated by public benchmarks.
- Accelerated Builds. Enjoy up to 87% faster hybrid rendering builds and a 67% boost for client-side rendering, streamlining your development workflow.
- Modernized Aesthetics. A fresh, contemporary look mirrors the forward-thinking features embedded in Angular, ushering you into the future of web development.
- Interactive Learning Journey. Embark on a brand-new learning adventure, crafted to enhance your understanding and mastery of Angular.
- Countless Enhancements. Explore many additional features and improvements that promise to elevate your development journey.
First, let's discuss non-specific innovations like future-looking identity and future-looking documentation.
Future-looking identity
Angular has undergone a dynamic renaissance, surging forward with each successive version. From signal-based reactivity to standalone components, hydration, and the intricacies of directive composition, their innovation journey has been nothing short of exhilarating. Yet, as Angular evolved rapidly, its visual identity remained frozen in time, harkening back to the early days of AngularJS.
The Angular team proudly unveiled a refreshed aesthetic for the framework. This design mirrors the cutting-edge developer experience and unparalleled performance that millions of developers have battle-tested and loved throughout its evolution.
Future-looking documentation
In tandem with their invigorated brand, the Angular team is thrilled to present Angular's reimagined documentation hub — angular.dev. This isn't just a cosmetic facelift. It's a comprehensive overhaul featuring a fresh structure, revamped guides, enriched content, and a groundbreaking platform for an interactive learning voyage. Now, you can delve into the intricacies of Angular and the Angular CLI at your own pace, directly within the confines of your web browser.
Fueling this transformative learning experience is the mighty WebContainers, empowering you to harness the full capabilities of the Angular CLI seamlessly in any modern web browser!
Now, there is a beta preview launch of angular.dev, poised to become the default go-to website for Angular in the upcoming v18.
Next, let's discuss 3 features we are most excited about at MaybeWorks.
Built-in control flow
In relentless pursuit of an unparalleled developer experience, the Angular team unveiled a cutting-edge block template syntax that seamlessly combines simplicity with powerful, declarative APIs. Behind the scenes, the Angular compiler adeptly transforms this syntax into efficient JavaScript instructions, enabling functionalities like control flow, lazy loading, and beyond.
This innovation is epitomized in optimized, built-in control flow, born out of meticulous user studies. Recognizing common challenges with *ngIf, *ngSwitch, and *ngFor, the Angular team set out to streamline these processes.
At MaybeWorks, we need to reference the syntax of *ngFor and trackBy. And now, the Angular team`s innovation greatly changed the situation. Here's why it's a game-changer:
- Enhanced Ergonomics. The syntax is now more intuitive, resembling JavaScript closely and reducing the need for frequent documentation lookups.
- Optimized Type Checking. Enjoy superior type narrowing, leading to more robust type checking.
- Build-Time Magic. Primarily existing at build-time, it significantly trims the runtime footprint, potentially slashing the bundle size by up to 30 kilobytes. Say hello to improved Core Web Vital scores!
- Seamless Integration. There is no need for additional imports; the built-in control flow is automatically available in the templates.
If you are looking for reliable developers with up-to-date expertise, please contact us at MaybeWorks.
Built-in for loop
One of the standout updates is the introduction of the built-in @for loop. This game-changer not only elevates the developer experience but catapults Angular's rendering speed to unprecedented heights!
In app development, performance issues often arise due to the absence of a trackBy function in *ngFor. Here's where @for takes center stage, demanding the track attribute to ensure lightning-fast diffing performance. Notably, it's a breeze to use – a mere expression rather than a method in the component's class. And for collections with zero items, the built-in @empty block provides a convenient shortcut.
What sets @for apart is its adoption of a new and improved diffing algorithm, boasting a more optimal implementation compared to *ngFor. The result? Up to a staggering 90% faster runtime, as validated by community framework benchmarks! Angular's rendering has never been this swift and developer-friendly.
We also recommend you read our article about Angular JS to React migration.
Deferrable views
Angular harnessed the potential of new block syntax to introduce a robust mechanism that propels your apps into new realms of speed. As mentioned earlier, deferrable views are the cornerstone of this evolution, not just enhancing performance but elevating the developer experience to unparalleled heights.
Deferrable views are a game-changer because they introduce a declarative and powerful deferred loading approach, setting a new standard for ease and efficiency. Here, the Angular team merges the power of deferred loading with unprecedented ergonomics, allowing you to optimize your applications with a level of control and simplicity that was previously unimaginable.
Imagine you have a blog and want to load the list of user comments lazily. Traditionally, this would involve juggling ViewContainerRef, handling complexities like cleanups, error management, and displaying a placeholder—a daunting task prone to non-trivial code and challenging testing and debugging.
Deferrable view is a groundbreaking feature that simplifies the process with a single line of declarative code. What's incredible is that this isn't just a runtime magic trick but a compile-time transformation. Angular abstracts the complexity by identifying components, directives, and pipes within a @defer block, dynamically generating imports, and seamlessly managing the loading process and state transitions.
Need to lazily load a component when it enters the viewport? Angular simplifies it with the IntersectionObserver API. Angular intelligently renders the placeholder first. Once it's in the viewport, the
And that's not all! Deferrable views offer an array of triggers, including on idle, on immediate, on timer(<time>), on interaction, on hover, and more. You can even specify your own condition with when <expr>.
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