Angular 13, the latest Angular version, a TypeScript-based web framework, has been finally launched in November 2021. The upgrade included several improvements to the already successful software. Angular has introduced a new compilation and rendering pipeline Ivy in its version 9. But, the old compiler and runtime View Engine are still available. So if you are looking to migrate to Angular web development, you need to know the latest Angular framework.
To know about breaking changes that happened on Angular 12 compared to angular 11 click the link.
Also, it is to be noted that Angular has been using Ivy as its compilation engine and renderer for a long time to provide better performance and support for techniques such as server-side rendering. Let’s have a look at the top features of Angular 13 to see what’s new in this latest version!
Hey, It’s 100% Ivy Now!
The Angular latest version 13 removes the Angular Package Format (APF), View Engine-specific metadata, and older output formats. The removal of these elements makes the code more streamlined and able to better support future changes. The new package manager should reduce maintenance costs and the complexity of the codebase. Ivy compiles individual components independently of each other, which improves development times. The use of the ngcc (Angular compatibility compiler) is no longer necessary to build Angular libraries with the latest version of APF. This will offer faster execution times.
The Angular and Ivy frameworks both enable the creation of modular single-page applications. However, Angular relies on a more static approach to defining modules, whereas Ivy’s modules are more amenable to change as needed.
14 Exclusive Features of New Angular 13:
Angular 13 is a very advanced web development framework. Here is a closer look at its new updates and core changes.
More Ergonomic APIs
AngularJS 13 loads faster thanks to ergonomic code-splitting APIs and granular code breakdown at a component level. Angular 13 splits files into smaller chunks and keeps only the parts of the app that are required for a given view. This makes it easier for users to download just the essential parts of your app, which reduces load times.
Also, the introduction of ESBuild—a JavaScript bundler that works with terser to optimize scripts and supports CSS sourcemaps—improves performance.
No More Support for IE11
To take advantage of native web APIs and modern browser features, such as those that implement web animations and CSS variables, the Angular team has removed Internet Explorer 11 support.
Angular.js offers a lighter and fast-loading program, along with a more user-friendly experience because of the lack of Internet Explorer-specific code and differential loading. This change in the way Angular implements its dependency injection might affect authorities or institutions that still use IE 11 and have not yet switched to Microsoft Edge or other modern browsers.
Improved Debugging and Test Times
In the latest Angular development framework, the TestBed is the primary unit tests API for Angular applications and libraries.
The new version of TestBed, released on January 21, offers an improved API for creating and tearing down a test environment. It also allows you to learn the structure of your environment as you create new tests, leading to faster, memory-efficient.
It allows developers to increase test speed and decrease memory usage, by allowing the framework to learn the DOM automatically after each test run.
Changes to the Angular Package Format(APF)
Angular Package Format (APF) specifies the format and structure of the Angular Framework packages. It’s a great approach for front-end developers to have a predictable way to store and share third-party libraries built by the community.
- Generates Ivy partial compilation output.
- It doesn’t produce UMD bundles.
- It creates ES2020 output.
- It uses the package exports using the sub-path pattern feature from Node.js
Accessibility (A11y)
In the new version, all Angular Material Design Components (MDC) have been checked for better Accessibility. Angular 13 has overhauled many user interface components, including inputs such as checkboxes and radio buttons, so now they have bigger touch areas, and other items have better high contrast modes. In an effort to improve the accessibility of its UI components, the team assessed and updated all Material Design Components. Radio buttons and checkboxes now have larger touch targets, and other elements feature higher contrast modes.
Augmented Inline Support for Adobe Fonts
In the latest Angular framework, inline support for Adobe fonts is enabled by default. These fonts can accelerate the FCP (First Contentful Paint) and make your apps more functional. You don’t need to change anything in your code; just run ng update.
Improvement in Localization–H3
AngularJS 13 $localize provides a consistent API that can be used to produce an effective way for in-built internationalization (i18n) and tag messages for translation in code and templates. AngularJS $localize() is a method for internationalizing an application. Developers use it to aid in-built internationalization and translate message tags for display.
Dynamic Component Creation
One update to AngularJS’s API—enabled by Ivy—is a cleaner, more lightweight way to dynamically create a component. Mark demonstrates how, before and after Ivy’s introduction to the framework, instances of ViewContainerRef.createComponent no longer require an instantiated factory to new up a component
TestBed Teardown Now a Default Option
Angular JS TestBed configurations that allow for a better teardown of test modules and environments are now enabled by default. This feature was added in v12 and can be disabled or configured per module.
Angular CLI Upgrade
Angular CLI is one of the fundamental pieces of the AngularJS package. Few developers can handle the complex modern web development ecosystem in its entirety, and Angular CLI safeguards them from most of it. The latest version of Angular now supports a persistent build cache by default, which causes up to 68% enhancement in development speed. You can enable or disable this feature in current Angular apps. Angular v13 now supports a persistent build cache via the –build-cache flag. You can enable or disable this feature on existing apps with this new update
Other Critical updates
- js v12.20 and later are no longer supported with Angular packages, because older versions of Node.js use the package exports feature with subpath patterns.
- The reactive programming library RxJS v7 is supported.
- The built-in validators min, max, and minLength can be turned off or on.
- A change has been proposed for Angular.js to address a bug in which the default URL serializer would drop everything afterward, including a question mark in query parameters, resulting in incorrect parsing for navigation to /path?q=hello?&other.
Final thoughts
On a final note, the new version of the Angular 13 framework offers exciting new features. If you’re not dependent on Internet Explorer 11, then you can upgrade to Angular 13 more easily by running ng update in your project. There is a possibility in the future to make NgModules (an Angular feature) on GitHub an optional feature. Such a change would allow developers to create independent components and implement alternative APIs for declaring compilation areas. Why waiting? update angular to latest version now!