Latest Angular 18 Features: What’s New and Improved?

Angular 18

Do you know about the latest Angular version release? Aren't you excited for the release of Angular 18? Angular 18 is on the verge of releasing this month. Like every previous version, this version will also be full of enhancements and optimizations. Though there hasn't been any official update regarding the features of Angular 18, there are some of them Angular is working on. There may be many more we'll get to hear in the coming days till the version comes out.

In this Angular tutorial, we'll discuss some of the features expected to come up with the release of Angular 18.

Read More: Top 50+ Angular Interview Questions & Answers

Discover the Angular 18 New Features

1. Route Redirects with Functions

Angular 18 introduces a new feature for managing redirects. Now strings can be replaced with functions to specify the redirect URL within the redirectTo property of the Route object. This feature increases the flexibility in routing and opens up new possibilities.

This function lets you access the object containing information about the URL. The “url” object contains all information about the route, including its data, title, query parameters, routing segment, and more. The function must return a reference to the string or an UrlTree. Do you know about UrlTree? It is a data structure representing a URL. It’s essentially a parsed representation of a URL that Angular’s router uses to navigate within an application.

//
export const routes: Routes = [
  {
    path: 'page1',
    redirectTo: '/page2',
    pathMatch: 'full'
  }
]; 


//redirectTo function
export const routes: Routes = [
  {
    path: 'page1',
    redirectTo: (url) => { 
      return '/page2'; 
    },
    pathMatch: 'full'
  }
]; 

The UrlTree encloses information like the URL’s segments, query parameters, and fragments. This process is used in Angular’s routing system for various applications like URL manipulation, navigation, and routing guards. By using UrlTree, Angular ensures consistent and reliable navigation behavior within applications.

Read More: Routing in Angular

2. New RedirectCommand

The new RedirectCommand class in the upcoming release will manage NavigationExtras. This feature will enhance redirection capabilities within Guards and Resolvers. Integrating the RedirectCommand class significantly enhances maintainability and flexibility, simplifying the management of complex navigation patterns in Angular applications.

const route: Route = {
  path: 'page1',
  component: PageComponent,
  canActivate: [
    () => {
      const router: Router = inject(Router);
      const urlTree: UrlTree = router.parseUrl('./page2');
      return new RedirectCommand(urlTree, { skipLocationChange: true });
    },
  ],
};

Read More: Angular 17 Tutorial: What's new in Angular 17

3. ng-content default content

In this release, you can insert default content into the ng-content tag. In Angular, ng-content is a directive used to create a placeholder in a component's template where content can be dynamically inserted. This newly added feature is a logical extension of the ng-content element. If there’s a tag for content, it follows that default content should be included within the tag itself.

<div>
   <h1>Header</h1>
   <ng-content>Default&lt;/ng-content>
</div>

Read More: A Look into Angular Directives

4. Zoneless applications

Angular 18 has introduced improved support for "zoneless" applications. Zoneless applications eliminate the reliance on zone.js for change detection, offering several benefits such as improved performance, reduced complexity, and more explicit control over change detection.

One of the primary objectives of Signals is to enable applications to operate without zone.js. Initially, this would have been achievable solely through Signal Components. However, the landscape has since evolved. Now, it will be possible to achieve this without using Signal Components

5. TypeScript 4.7 Support

Angular 18 has the complete support of TypeScript 4.7. There will be an add-on in the characteristics of it in this release. Below are the enhancements that one can now leverage in Angular 18.

1. Template Literal Types

Now, you can precisely specify template types and catch errors easily and accurately.

2. Improved Readonly Support

It will introduce a more consistent and secure way to use the readonly keyword providing developers with efficiency and security benefits.

3. New Import Types

This will help you in creating a modular and organized code enhancing readability and efficiency.

6. Improved Performance with Ivy

This release will make specific optimizations to the Ivy compiler thereby enhancing the performance of various Angular applications. The optimizations will significantly lead to:

• Faster startup times
• Smaller bundle sizes
• Better overall performance

7. New ng-template API

With the arrival of ng-template API in Angular 18, developers can create and use templates without facing any difficulty. It has eased the process of template application. The following are the advantages of this API:

• Enhanced Type Safety: You can add more precise type definitions within templates. It helps in catching errors at compile time.
• Cleaner Code: Encourages more declarative, readable, and maintainable code.
• Enhanced Reusability: Simplifies the creation of reusable components with well-defined types.

8. Enhanced Forms API

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