This is part of a 3-part overview of Angular directives. Also see:

• Structural Directives

• Attribute Directives

What are Component Directives?

Components are by far the most understood of the directive types, but it's important to call out that Angular components are, indeed, directives.

Component directives are a core feature of Angular, providing the primary method through which you create and manage components in your Angular applications. These directives are essentially classes with a @Component decorator that defines a template, its associated styles, and the logic needed for the component to operate. Component directives are used to build the application's views, encapsulating the data rendering and user interaction logic.

Characteristics of Component Directives

Here's a more detailed breakdown of component directives:

Decoration with@Component

The @Component decorator is what distinguishes a class as a component directive in Angular. This decorator function takes a configuration object that specifies how the component should be processed, instantiated, and used at runtime. Key properties in this configuration include:

• selector: Defines a CSS selector that identifies the element in the template where the component will be applied. This is how Angular knows where to instantiate and render the component's view.

• templateUrl: Points to an external file that contains the template associated with the component. Alternatively, template can be used to define inline HTML.

• styleUrls: Specifies an array of files that contain CSS styles for the component. Similarly, styles can be used for inline styles.

Encapsulation of Logic and Data

Component directives encapsulate the logic and data needed for a component's view. They can define properties and methods that can be bound to the view and can react to events in the template, enabling dynamic and interactive user interfaces.

Lifecycle Hooks

Components in Angular have a defined lifecycle, and Angular provides lifecycle hooks that allow developers to tap into key moments in the lifecycle of a component, such as creation, change detection, and destruction. This enables fine-tuned control over the component's behavior.

• ngOnChanges: Called before ngOnInit and whenever one or more data-bound input properties change. It receives a SimpleChanges object containing current and previous property values, making it useful for reacting to changes.

• ngOnInit: Called once, after the first ngOnChanges. It is used for initializing the directive or component after Angular first displays the data-bound properties and sets the directive or component's input properties.

• ngDoCheck: Called during every change detection run, immediately after ngOnChanges and ngOnInit, providing a hook for developers to manually check for changes.

• ngAfterContentInit: Called once after the first ngDoCheck. It is used for performing any additional initialization tasks for content projected into the component by another component.

• ngAfterContentChecked: Called after ngAfterContentInit and every subsequent ngDoCheck. It's invoked when Angular checks the content projected into the directive or component.

• ngAfterViewInit: Called once after the first ngAfterContentChecked. This hook is used for initialization work that requires the DOM nodes to be present and accounted for, particularly for child component initialization.

• ngAfterViewChecked: Called after the ngAfterViewInit and every subsequent ngAfterContentChecked. It's used for the code that needs to check the component's view and child views.

• ngOnDestroy: Called just before Angular destroys the directive or component. Use this hook to perform any cleanup work, such as unsubscribing from observables or detaching event handlers to avoid memory leaks.

Input and Output Properties

Components can receive data from their parent components using @Input properties and can emit events to their parents using @Output properties. This facilitates data flow and interaction between components in an Angular application.

View Encapsulation

Angular components use a technique called view encapsulation to keep a component's styles localized to that component, preventing styles from leaking out and affecting other elements in the application.

View encapsulation in Angular components is key to ensuring a consistent look and feel throughout your app, even when using multiple components. It keeps a component's styles contained, preventing them from affecting other elements in the application.

Direct Use in Templates

Once defined, components can be directly used within Angular templates using their selector as a HTML tag. This allows for the creation of complex applications made up of nested, reusable components.

By directly embedding these components into your templates, you can construct intricate user interfaces with ease, ensuring that each part of your application can be developed, tested, and maintained as a modular unit.