Episode 23/18: Angular 16

#webdev #javascript #programming #angular

Angular 16 is out, and it is the most significant release since version 2 in 2016.

Since version 14, Angular has been gradually transforming into an almost entirely new framework. It has added state-of-the-art features like hydration and signals that were previously only available in the new generation of frontend frameworks.

The Angular team has been coordinating with the community to make this transformation over multiple releases while maintaining backwards compatibility. This ensures that the rich ecosystem, including libraries and tooling, can adapt itself without being lost.

Signals are the star of Angular 12, which is a reactive "model" closely tied to Angular's change detection mechanism, responsible for updating the DOM. Until now, zone.js triggered the change detection automatically, but in an inefficient way.

Signals will help in many cases, such as performance, where disabling zone.js and manually triggering change detection was necessary in edge cases. Additionally, for simple use cases, Signals provide a lightweight alternative to RxJs for reactive programming.

Signals are currently in developer preview, and there will be a new Signals-based component type in upcoming releases.

Along with Signals, Angular 12 brings improved hydration, which is especially useful for server-side rendering (SSR). In the past, when using SSR, the DOM was destroyed and rebuilt. But now, with better hydration, this is no longer necessary.

Furthermore, more features will be added to hydration in upcoming releases.

There are many other noteworthy features in Angular 12, and for more information, you can check out the ChangeLog, official blog posts, or release events on YouTube.

You'll also find plenty of community-created content on the internet, so there's no shortage of resources to learn from.