Work through the tutorial to see how Angular makes browsers smarter — without the use of extensions
or plug-ins. As you work through the tutorial, you will:
* See examples of how to use client-side data binding and dependency injection to build dynamic
views of data that change immediately in response to user actions.
* See how Angular creates listeners on your data without the need for DOM manipulation.
* Learn a better, easier way to test your web apps.
* Learn how to use Angular services to make common web tasks, such as getting data into your app,
easier.
And all of this works in any browser without modification to the browser!
When you finish the tutorial you will be able to:
* Create a dynamic application that works in any browser.
* Define the differences between Angular and common JavaScript frameworks.
* Understand how data binding works in AngularJS.
* Use the angular-seed project to quickly boot-strap your own projects.
* Create and run tests.
* Identify resources for learning more about AngularJS.
The tutorial guides you through the entire process of building a simple application, including
writing and running unit and end-to-end tests. Experiments at the end of each step provide
suggestions for you learn more about AngularJS and the application you are building.
You can go through the whole tutorial in a couple of hours or you may want to spend a pleasant day
really digging into it. If you're looking for a shorter introduction to AngularJS, check out the
{@link misc/started Getting Started} document.
# Working with the code
You can follow this tutorial and hack on the code in either the Mac/Linux or the Windows
environment. Options for working with the tutorial are to use the Git versioning system for source
code management or to use scripts that copy snapshots of project files into your workspace
(`sandbox`) directory. Select one of the tabs below and follow the instructions for setting up your
computer for your preferred option.
Verify that you have Java installed by running the following command in a terminal window:
java -versionYou will need Java to run unit tests.
Download Git from the Git site.
You can build Git from source or use the pre-compiled package.
Clone the angular-phonecat repository located at Github by running the following command:
git clone git://github.com/angular/angular-phonecat.gitThis command creates the angular-phonecat directory in your current
directory.
Change your current directory to angular-phonecat:
cd angular-phonecatThe tutorial instructions assume you are running all commands from the angular-phonecat directory.
You will need an http server running on your system. Mac and Linux machines typically
have Apache pre-installed, but If you don't already have one installed, you can install node.js. Use node to run
scripts/web-server.js, a simple bundled http server.
You will need Java to run unit tests, so run the following command to verify that you
have Java installed and that the java executable is on
your PATH.
java -versionInstall msysGit from the Git site.
Open msysGit bash and clone the angular-phonecat repository located at Github by running the following command:
git clone git://github.com/angular/angular-phonecat.gitThis command creates the angular-phonecat directory in your current directory.
Change your current directory to angular-phonecat.
cd angular-phonecatThe tutorial instructions assume you are running all commands from the angular-phonecat directory.
You should run all git commands from msysGit bash.
Other commands like test-server.bat or test.bat should be
executed from the Windows command line.
You need an http server running on your system, but if you don't already have one
already installed, you can install node.js. Make sure that
nodejs\bin was added into your PATH. Use node to run
scripts\web-server.js, a simple bundled http server.
You need Java to run unit tests, so verify that you have Java installed by running the following command in a terminal window:
java -versionDownload the zip archive containing all of the files and unzip them into the [tutorial-dir] directory
.Change your current directory to [tutorial-dir]/sandbox, as follows:
cd [tutorial-dir]/sandboxThe tutorial instructions assume you are running all commands from your
sandbox directory.
You need an http server running on your system and Mac and Linux machines typically
have Apache pre-installed. If you don't have an http server installed, you can install node.js and use it to run
scripts/web-server.js, a simple bundled http server.
Verify that you have Java installed and that the
java executable is on your PATH by running the following command in the
Windows command line:
java -versionYou need Java to run unit tests, so download the zip archive that contains all of the files and unzip the files into the [tutorial-dir] directory
Change your current directory to [tutorial-dir]/sandbox, as follows:
cd [tutorial-dir]/sandboxThe tutorial instructions assume you are running all commands from this directory.
You need an http server running on your system, but if you don't already have one
already installed, you can install node.js. Make sure that
nodejs\bin was added into your PATH. Use node to run
scripts\web-server.js, a simple bundled http server.
@ngdoc overview
@name Tutorial: 2 - Angular Templates
@description
<ul doc:tutorial-nav="2"></ul>
Now it's time to make the web page dynamic -- with Angular. We'll also add a test that verifies the
code for the controller we are going to add.
There are many ways to structure the code for an application. For Angular apps, we encourage the
use of {@link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model–View–Controller the Model-View-Controller (MVC)
design pattern} to decouple the code and to separate concerns. With that in mind, let's use a
little Angular and JavaScript to add model, view, and controller components to our app.
<doc:tutorial-instructions step="2"></doc:tutorial-instructions>
The app now contains a list with three phones.
The most important changes are listed below. You can see the full diff on {@link
https://github.com/angular/angular-phonecat/compare/step-1...step-2 GitHub}:
## Template for the View
The __view__ component is constructed by Angular from this template:
__`app/index.html`:__
<pre>
...
<body ng:controller="PhoneListCtrl">
<ul>
<li ng:repeat="phone in phones">
{{phone.name}}
<p>{{phone.snippet}}</p>
</li>
</ul>
<script src="lib/angular/angular.js" ng:autobind></script>
<script src="js/controllers.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
</pre>
We replaced the hard-coded phone list with the {@link api/angular.widget.@ng:repeat ng:repeat
widget} and two {@link guide/dev_guide.expressions Angular expressions} enclosed in curly braces:
`{{phone.name}}` and `{{phone.snippet}}`:
* The `ng:repeat="phone in phones"` statement in the `<li>` tag is an Angular repeater. The
repeater tells Angular to create a `<li>` element for each phone in the list using the first `<li>`
tag as the template.
<img src="img/tutorial/tutorial_02_final.png">
* The curly braces around `phone.name` and `phone.snippet` are examples of {@link
guide/dev_guide.compiler.markup Angular markup}. The curly markup is shorthand for the Angular
directive {@link api/angular.directive.ng:bind ng:bind}. An `ng:bind` directive indicates a
template binding point to Angular. Binding points are locations in a template where Angular creates
data-binding between the view and the model.
In Angular, the view is a projection of the model through the HTML template. This means that
whenever the model changes, Angular refreshes the appropriate binding points, which updates the
view.
## Model and Controller
The data __model__ (a simple array of phones in object literal notation) is instantiated within
the __controller__ function (`PhoneListCtrl`):
__`app/js/controllers.js`:__
<pre>
function PhoneListCtrl() {
this.phones = [{"name": "Nexus S",
"snippet": "Fast just got faster with Nexus S."},
{"name": "Motorola XOOM™ with Wi-Fi",
"snippet": "The Next, Next Generation tablet."},
{"name": "MOTOROLA XOOM™",
"snippet": "The Next, Next Generation tablet."}];
}
</pre>
Although the controller is not yet doing very much controlling, it is playing a crucial role. By
providing context for our data model, the controller allows us to establish data-binding between
the model and the view. We connected the dots between the presentation, data, and logic components
as follows:
* The name of our controller function (in the JavaScript file `controllers.js`) matches the {@link
api/angular.directive.ng:controller ng:controller} directive in the `<body>` tag (`PhoneListCtrl`).
* The data is instantiated within the *scope* of our controller function; our template binding
points are located within the block bounded by the `<body ng:controller="PhoneListCtrl">` tag.
The concept of a scope in Angular is crucial; a scope can be seen as the glue which allows the
template, model and controller to work together. Angular uses scopes, along with the information
contained in the template, data model, and controller, to keep models and views separate, but in
sync. Any changes made to the model are reflected in the view; any changes that occur in the view
are reflected in the model.
To learn more about Angular scopes, see the {@link api/angular.scope angular scope documentation}.
## Tests
The "Angular way" makes it easy to test code as it is being developed. Take a look at the following
unit test for your newly created controller:
__`test/unit/controllersSpec.js`:__
<pre>
describe('PhoneCat controllers', function() {
describe('PhoneListCtrl', function() {
it('should create "phones" model with 3 phones', function() {
var ctrl = new PhoneListCtrl();
expect(ctrl.phones.length).toBe(3);
});
});
});
</pre>
The test verifies that we have three records in the phones array and the example demonstrates how
easy it is to create a unit test for code in Angular. Since testing is such a critical part of
software development, we make it easy to create tests in Angular so that developers are encouraged
to write them.
Angular developers prefer the syntax of Jasmine's Behavior-driven Development (BDD) framework when
writing tests. Although Angular does not require you to use Jasmine, we wrote all of the tests in
this tutorial in Jasmine. You can learn about Jasmine on the {@link
http://pivotal.github.com/jasmine/ Jasmine home page} and on the {@link
https://github.com/pivotal/jasmine/wiki Jasmine wiki}.
The angular-seed project is pre-configured to run all unit tests using {@link
http://code.google.com/p/js-test-driver/ JsTestDriver}. To run the test, do the following:
1. In a _separate_ terminal window or tab, go to the `angular-phonecat` directory and run
`./scripts/test-server.sh` to start the test web server.
2. Open a new browser tab or window and navigate to {@link http://localhost:9876}.
3. Choose "Capture this browser in strict mode".
At this point, you can leave this tab open and forget about it. JsTestDriver will use it to
execute the tests and report the results in the terminal.
4. Execute the test by running `./scripts/test.sh`
You should see the following or similar output:
Chrome: Runner reset.
.
Total 1 tests (Passed: 1; Fails: 0; Errors: 0) (2.00 ms)
Chrome 11.0.696.57 Mac OS: Run 1 tests (Passed: 1; Fails: 0; Errors 0) (2.00 ms)
Yay! The test passed! Or not...
Note: If you see errors after you run the test, close the browser tab and go back to the terminal
and kill the script, then repeat the procedure above.
# Experiments
* Add another binding to `index.html`. For example:
<p>Total number of phones: {{phones.length}}</p>
* Create a new model property in the controller and bind to it from the template. For example:
this.hello = "Hello, World!"
Refresh your browser to make sure it says, "Hello, World!"
* Create a repeater that constructs a simple table:
<table>
<tr><th>row number</th></tr>
<tr ng:repeat="i in [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]"><td>{{i}}</td></tr>
</table>
Now, make the list 1-based by incrementing `i` by one in the binding:
<table>
<tr><th>row number</th></tr>
<tr ng:repeat="i in [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]"><td>{{i+1}}</td></tr>
</table>
* Make the unit test fail by changing the `toBe(3)` statement to `toBe(4)`, and rerun the
`./scripts/test.sh` script.
# Summary
You now have a dynamic app that features separate model, view, and controller components, and you
are testing as you go. Now, let's go to {@link step_03 step 3} to learn how to add full text search
to the app.
<ul doc:tutorial-nav="2"></ul>