Exploring the New Features of Angular 15: A Comprehensive Guide

There is constant advancement in the field of technology. The already existing technologies are being updated with changing requirements of the users. The developers working with the technology come up with the additional features and changes that need to be incorporated to make the new version better than the last. Here we are going to one of the most popular frameworks latest version used to build applications in Angular 15.

Angular is an open-source javascript framework, popular for building mobile and desktop web applications. It was developed and maintained by Google, and first released in 2016. Angular 15 was released in 2022, with a lot of new and advanced features which optimize the development process to the next level. Let us find out what is new in Angular 15.

Features of Angular 15

Standalone components

The standalone APIs were introduced in angular 14 but it is now out of the developer’s preview with angular 15. It is more stable now. This particular change is advantageous for the new developers since it makes application development easier with angular 15. The stable standalone API has made it possible for developers to write applications without the ng module. Another advantage of it is now users can bootstrap an application with a single component.

Stack traces

With angular 15 the debugging process of an application has become more efficient and simpler with the stack traces tool. Now stack traces more of the application’s code and less of the third-party codes, which gives it a cleaner look. With the improvements stack traces now point to the exact line where there is an error which eliminates the time required to locate the arrow. The debugging experience was improved with the help of the google chrome dev tool team.

MDC-based components

The difficulty of refactoring component-based angular material, which is made possible with the angular 15 updates. The refactoring of angular material based on material design components for the web is completed with angular 15. It is closer to the material design specification now. With the help of “legacy” import the user can access the old components which have been deprecated in angular 15.

Image directives

The image directive is now stable with angular15. In angular 15 the srcset generation is now automatic, which reduces the download times of the image. The other feature is fill mode which removes the need to declare the specification of the image like width and height. The NgOptimizedImage directive can be used in the component directly.

CDK List-box

The component dev kit is a library of predefined primitives that are used by developers for building UI components. There is a new addition in the angular 15 CDK listbox primitive which the user can modify according to the requirement. Bidi layout, keyboard interaction, and focus arrangement all are included in this CDK listbox.

Esbuild support

In Angular 14 esbuild support was introduced, esbuild is the next-generation javascript builder. Esbuild is known to be more efficient and faster than other bundlers. In Angular 15 the esbuild support was extended with SVG template, file replacement, and ng-built watch support.

Directive Composition API

The reusability has increased multifold with the introduction of directive composition API in angular 15. It allows the developers to compose the already existing directive into new directives. This lets the directive be used in multiple places. The directive composition API can be directly applied to the host elements without any other modifications required.

Router unwraps default Imports

In Angular 15, the router now unwraps default imports automatically while lazy loading. It has made the router simpler and reduced the boilerplate.

There are many more changes and upgradation done in Angular 15. We have discussed some of the major features added that have resulted in the enhanced potential of Angular. With the understanding of the added features and their benefits, now you would want to upgrade to angular 15 if you are still using the older version of Angular. It is an easy and quick process to install angular 15. Here are the basic steps you need to follow…

How to install angular 15?

To install angular 15, you need to run a command in CLI-

npm install – – global @angular/cli@next

How to upgrade to angular 15?

1. Check the node.js version installed in your system. Angular 15 has extended its support to node.js 14.20x, 16.13x, and 18.10x. You need to update the node.js if you don’t have any one of them.

2. Check and update the typescript version to 4.8 or above.

3. Update angular CLI using the command ng update@angular/core@15@angular/cli@15

4. Upgrade the angular material component with ng update@angular/material@15

5. In Angular 15 you need to define keyframes programmatically since the keyframe’s name will not work in v15. Define it in global sheets and own code both.

6. In the update enableIvy call has been removed, so clear enableIvy from the tsconfig.json file. Ivy is the only rendering engine in Angular 15.

7. Now you need to use DATE_PIPE_DEFAULT_OPTIONS to configure the time zone in place of DATE_PIPE_DEFAULT_TIMEZONE.

Following the above basic steps, you can upgrade to Angular 15 and start using the new features of Angular 15. You can also check the online guide available which will help you to upgrade.

Angular 15 is upgraded with great features that make the development process more convenient and efficient for the developers. The above-mentioned steps will help you to upgrade to Angular 15 and start using the features of the update. In case you face any difficulty in upgrading or with the already developed applications with an older version of Angular. As an Angular development company, our experts can help you with the solution.

We have a team of expert developers who can assist you with the web development project. We provide a wide range of services, get in touch with your requirement, and we would be happy to customize solutions that would be well suited to your business requirement.