9 Useful Angular Features That You Missed

Angular has a lot of features that, as a developer, you either use daily or completely overlook.

Angular is an open source web app framework brought to us by Google. It’s a framework that is updated often, and provides key function for both mobile and desktop usage.

As with any framework, you’ll miss a few features that can aid in the development process.

The features you may have missed, and there are sure to be plenty more, are:

1. meta.updateTag

Meta tags are integral to HTML pages, and they can easily be added into a page using Angular. Of course, embedding the tags in coding would leave little flexibility, but you can use Meta to update tags, such as your:

• Title
• Description
• Image
• Site

2. setTitle

If you want to inject a title tag into your document, you can do so with the setTitle tag. The code would update the text in the <title> tag on the page. SEO experts often opt to use this feature for better overall on-page optimization.

3. interpolation

Interpolation allows for default template interpolation where it’s possible to update the browser DOM. You can manipulate the data in the DOM before it renders. While this may not be used often, it’s definitely an option in select cases.

4. Location

The Location can be manipulated using a constructor, which allows the developer to get the URL from the browser window. The Location feature allows you to take greater control over the browser by manipulating the browser to go forward or backward through a person’s history.

You can also use Location similar to how .net development services uses it and actually navigate to the URL.

5. Document

We’ve mentioned DOM a lot before, and Document allows for the changing of the canvas HTML through injection. You would use this feature to change the DOM in a different way, but it’s a tricky feature to use.

You have to make sure that the rendering stays the same when rendering or running the application.

The issue with any DOM manipulation is that it can lead to security risks. While Document may be available, it’s often a feature that people should stay away from unless there is no other option available.

6. Virtual Scroll

Virtual scroll functionality is available that allows you to skip pagination and instead make a site that virtually scrolls. You can achieve this in different languages, it is done by loading elements into the DOM and unloading elements in the DOM.

If you have lists that you want to make scrollable, you can use this feature, too.

While you’ll need to be creative, virtual scroll will definitely provide you with an additional option for a cleaner layout.

7. HttpInterceptor

The HttpInterceptor works to intercept HttpRequests and can be a very powerful feature when it’s used properly. Using the Interceptor allows you to transform the requests before they’re intercepted.

You can opt to use the HttpInterceptor for a lot of different functions, including:

• Caching
• Authentication
• Modifying headers

Developers can use this function uniquely to modify headers and cache data.

8. Differential Loading

Differential loading is bundled and loaded automatically by the browser. You’ll be able to leverage this function from Angular 8 onward. The loading will offer separate bundles for both modern and legacy JavaScript.

The benefit is that the loading time can be reduced by 7% to 20%.

And since you don’t need to do a thing to make the browser download the right bundle, it’s a feature that literally takes no effort to be able to use.

9. Bazel Support

Bazel support is one of those features that are very easy to overlook, but it’s going to give you a lot of power when building backend and frontend applications. In fact, you can use the same tools to create both allowing for faster development.

The CLI application can be built with Bazel.

Angular is expected to include Bazel in version 9.

Bazel is what the developers chose to make the framework, so it’s very powerful. You’ll notice that the first build is very time consuming, but the subsequent builds will be faster.

Angular continues to advance, and when you really begin to look at the newest builds, you’ll learn how the framework continues to improve to boost next generation technology and applications.