“Thinking in AngularJS” if I have a jQuery background? [closed]

manpreet Best Answer 2 years ago

Suppose I'm familiar with developing client-side applications in jQuery, but now I'd like to start using AngularJS. Can you describe the paradigm shift that is necessary? Here are a few questions that might help you frame an answer:

• How do I architect and design client-side web applications differently? What is the biggest difference?
• What should I stop doing/using; What should I start doing/using instead?
• Are there any server-side considerations/restrictions?

I'm not looking for a detailed comparison between jQuery and AngularJS.

manpreet 2 years ago

To describe the "paradigm shift", I think a short answer can suffice.

AngularJS changes the way you find elements

In jQuery, you typically use selectors to find elements, and then wire them up:
$('#id .class').click(doStuff);

In AngularJS, you use directives to mark the elements directly, to wire them up:

AngularJS doesn't need (or want) you to find elements using selectors - the primary difference between AngularJS's jqLite versus full-blown jQuery is that jqLite does not support selectors.

So when people say "don't include jQuery at all", it's mainly because they don't want you to use selectors; they want you to learn to use directives instead. Direct, not select!