We can now build an AngularJS 1.5.x application by replacing controllers with components. That way we can prepare even better our old applications for their upgrade to Angular 2 and its components ways.

1. Get rid of controllers in
AngularJS 1.5.x
Start using component directives
Fakiolas Marios - fakiolasmarios@gmail.com / @fakiolinho
Frontend Developer at mist.io, creator of angularjs-recipes.com

2. What are
component
directives in
AngularJS 1.5 ?
As of AngularJS 1.5.x release a new type of
directives was introduced. These are component
directives.
A component directive is a component with directives
flavor.
This is a huge step which brings us closer to
components logic even in AngularJS 1.5.x
We can now build an AngularJS 1.5.x application by
replacing controllers with components.
So we can prepare even better our old applications
for their upgrade to Angular 2 and its components
ways.

3. Let’s create
a simple
component
directive
// Create it
angular
.module('myApp')
.component('userGreeting', {
bindings: {
user: '='
},
controller: function() {
var self = this;
self.welcome = 'Welcome ' + self.user.name + '!';
},
template: '<h1>{{$ctrl.welcome}}</h1>'
});
// Use it
<user-greeting user="{name: 'John Doe'}"></user-greeting>
<user-greeting user="{name: 'Jane Doe'}"></user-greeting>

4. Analyze a
simple
component
directive
name
This is the name of the component and the only
required option. We should pick wisely a camel-case
name to register our component and then call it into
action using this. Be careful because it always maps
to a dash-case component:
angular
.module('myApp')
.component('userGreeting', {
...
});
<user-greeting user="{name: 'John Doe'}"></user-greeting>

5. Analyze a
simple
component
directive
bindings
This an optional parameter and it is the way to
define DOM attribute binding to component
properties. Component properties are always bound
to the component controller.
angular
.module('myApp')
.component('userGreeting', {
bindings: {
user: '='
},
...
});
<user-greeting user="{name: 'John Doe'}"></user-greeting>

6. Analyze a
simple
component
directive
controller
This is an optional parameter and by default an
empty function is registered. Here we can use all
attributes passed with bindings and run some logic.
angular
.module('myApp')
.component('userGreeting', {
bindings: {
user: '='
},
controller: function() {
var self = this;
self.welcome = 'Welcome ' + self.user.name + '!';
}
...
});

7. Analyze a
simple
component
directive
template
This is an optional parameter which returns an
empty string by default. We can register with it a
html template as the content of our component.
Check out offered $ctrl as a controller’s alias.
angular
.module('myApp')
.component('userGreeting', {
bindings: {
user: '='
},
controller: function() {
var self = this;
self.welcome = 'Welcome ' + self.user.name + '!';
},
template: '<h1>{{$ctrl.welcome}}</h1>'
});

8. Analyze a
simple
component
directive
templateUrl
We could use this to call into action an external
html file as our component’s template.
angular
.module('myApp')
.component('userGreeting', {
bindings: {
user: '='
},
controller: function() {
var self = this;
self.welcome = 'Welcome ' + self.user.name + '!';
},
templateUrl: 'greeting.html'
});

9. Are you
still ok?

10. Let’s create
a simple
Blog
application
with
component
directives
https://github.com/Athens-AngularJS-Meetup/blog

11. Routing with
component
directives
// Routing using components instead of controllers
angular
.module('myApp')
.config(['$routeProvider', function($routeProvider) {
$routeProvider
.when('/', {
resolve: {
posts: function(Post) {
return Post.all();
}
},
template: '<posts posts="$resolve.posts"></posts>'
})
...

12. Declaring
posts
component
// Posts list component
angular
.module('myApp')
.component('posts', {
templateUrl: 'app/templates/posts.html',
bindings: {
posts: '='
},
controller: function() {
var self = this;
self.posts = self.posts.slice(0, 5);
}
});

13. Declaring
posts list
and post-
item
templates
// Posts list template
<section id="posts">
<post-item post="post" ng-repeat="post in $ctrl.posts"></post-item>
</section>
// Post list item template
<div class="post-item card">
<img ng-src="{{$ctrl.img}}" alt="{{$ctrl.post.title}}" />
<div class="card-body">
<h4>{{$ctrl.post.title}}</h4>
<hr>
<p>{{$ctrl.post.body}}</p>
<a ng-href="#/posts/{{$ctrl.post.id}}" class="btn">Read
More</a>
</div>
</div>

14. Declaring
post-item
component
// Post item component
angular
.module('myApp')
.component('postItem', {
templateUrl: 'app/templates/post-item.html',
bindings: {
post: '<'
},
controller: function() {
var self = this;
self.img = 'http://lorempixel.com/600/300/city/';
}
});

15. Declaring
Post factory
// Posts factory
angular
.module('myApp')
.factory('Post', ['$http', function($http) {
var service = {
all: all,
get: get
};
return service;
function all() {
return $http
.get('http://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts')
.then(function(data) {
return data.data;
});
}
...

16. Create even
more
components
like social-
icons
// Declare the component
angular
.module('myApp')
.component('socialIcons', {
templateUrl: 'app/templates/social-icons.html'
});
// Declare its template
<ul class="social-icons">
<li>
<a href="#"><i class="fa fa-twitter"></i></a>
</li>
...
</ul>
// Use the component
<social-icons></social-icons>

17. Components
data
bindings
overview

18. Components
bindings
type does
matter a lot
bindings: {
// Two way data-bindings (avoid usage)
posts: '=',
// One way data-bindings
// Preferable for Objects (highly proposed)
post: '<',
// Preferable for simple Strings
name: '@',
// Outputs data-bindings
onEdit: '&'
}

19. Components
bindings
type does
matter a lot
Ideally, the whole application should be a tree of
components that implement clearly defined inputs
and outputs, and minimize two-way data binding.
That way, it's easier to predict when data changes
and what the state of a component is.
Inputs should be using < and @ bindings. The <
symbol denotes one-way bindings (available since
1.5). The difference to = is that the bound properties
in the component scope are not watched, which
means if you assign a new value to the property in
the component scope, it will not update the parent
scope.

20. Components
bindings
type does
matter a lot
Note however, that both parent and component
scope reference the same object, so if you are
changing object properties or array elements in the
component, the parent will still reflect that change.
The general rule should therefore be to never
change an object or array property in the component
scope.

21. Components
cooperation
Of course components have outputs too. These are
also declared in bindings and we use them to inform
a parent component regarding an edit / delete /
update action we want to execute.
Data flow always from parents to children and
children never edit their inputs but emit the right
callback events backwards to their parents
requesting an action.
Outputs are realized with & bindings, which function
as callbacks to component events.
That way, the parent component can decide what to
do with the event (e.g. delete an item or update the
properties)

22. Components
cooperation
example
// Child's input / output bindings
bindings: {
task: '<',
onDelete: '&'
}
// Child's template
<p>{{$ctrl.post.title}}</p>
<button ng-click="$ctrl.onDelete({post: $ctrl.post})">Delete</button>
//Parent's template
<section id="posts">
<post-item post="post" on-delete="$ctrl.deletePost(post)" ng-repeat="post
in $ctrl.posts"></post-item>
</section>
// Parent's controller
ctrl.deletePost(post) {
...
}