Angular 2 — Creating Your First App

First of all, we are going to need to create the project directory. I’ll be creating my folder right on my desktop.

Next, we’re going to need to add a few config files. Go ahead and create all of these files, and copy + paste the dependencies into each file.

package.json :

{
  "name": "angular2-quickstart",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "scripts": {
    "start": "tsc && concurrently \"npm run tsc:w\" \"npm run lite\" ",
    "lite": "lite-server",
    "postinstall": "typings install",
    "tsc": "tsc",
    "tsc:w": "tsc -w",
    "typings": "typings"
  },
  "license": "ISC",
  "dependencies": {
    "@angular/common": "2.0.0-rc.4",
    "@angular/compiler": "2.0.0-rc.4",
    "@angular/core": "2.0.0-rc.4",
    "@angular/forms": "0.2.0",
    "@angular/http": "2.0.0-rc.4",
    "@angular/platform-browser": "2.0.0-rc.4",
    "@angular/platform-browser-dynamic": "2.0.0-rc.4",
    "@angular/router": "3.0.0-beta.1",
    "@angular/router-deprecated": "2.0.0-rc.2",
    "@angular/upgrade": "2.0.0-rc.4",
    "systemjs": "0.19.27",
    "core-js": "^2.4.0",
    "reflect-metadata": "^0.1.3",
    "rxjs": "5.0.0-beta.6",
    "zone.js": "^0.6.12",
    "angular2-in-memory-web-api": "0.0.14",
    "bootstrap": "^3.3.6"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "concurrently": "^2.0.0",
    "lite-server": "^2.2.0",
    "typescript": "^1.8.10",
    "typings":"^1.0.4"
  }
}

tsconfig.json :

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "target": "es5",
    "module": "commonjs",
    "moduleResolution": "node",
    "sourceMap": true,
    "emitDecoratorMetadata": true,
    "experimentalDecorators": true,
    "removeComments": false,
    "noImplicitAny": false
  }
}

typings.json :

{
  "globalDependencies": {
    "core-js": "registry:dt/core-js#0.0.0+20160602141332",
    "jasmine": "registry:dt/jasmine#2.2.0+20160621224255",
    "node": "registry:dt/node#6.0.0+20160621231320"
  }
}

systemjs.config.js :

/**
 * System configuration for Angular 2 samples
 * Adjust as necessary for your application needs.
 */
(function(global) {
  // map tells the System loader where to look for things
  var map = {
    'app':                        'app', // 'dist',
    '@angular':                   'node_modules/@angular',
    'angular2-in-memory-web-api': 'node_modules/angular2-in-memory-web-api',
    'rxjs':                       'node_modules/rxjs'
  };
  // packages tells the System loader how to load when no filename and/or no extension
  var packages = {
    'app':                        { main: 'main.js',  defaultExtension: 'js' },
    'rxjs':                       { defaultExtension: 'js' },
    'angular2-in-memory-web-api': { main: 'index.js', defaultExtension: 'js' },
  };
  var ngPackageNames = [
    'common',
    'compiler',
    'core',
    'forms',
    'http',
    'platform-browser',
    'platform-browser-dynamic',
    'router',
    'router-deprecated',
    'upgrade',
  ];
  // Individual files (~300 requests):
  function packIndex(pkgName) {
    packages['@angular/'+pkgName] = { main: 'index.js', defaultExtension: 'js' };
  }
  // Bundled (~40 requests):
  function packUmd(pkgName) {
    packages['@angular/'+pkgName] = { main: '/bundles/' + pkgName + '.umd.js', defaultExtension: 'js' };
  }
  // Most environments should use UMD; some (Karma) need the individual index files
  var setPackageConfig = System.packageWithIndex ? packIndex : packUmd;
  // Add package entries for angular packages
  ngPackageNames.forEach(setPackageConfig);
  var config = {
    map: map,
    packages: packages
  };
  System.config(config);
})(this);

Save these files. Your working directory should look like this:

Next, we will install the packages we made dependencies in package.json.

Now that we have the configuration set up, we can start creating our components.

import { Component } from '@angular/core';
@Component({
  selector: 'my-app',
  template: '<h1>My First Angular 2 App</h1>'
})
export class AppComponent { }

Paste this code into the component file, which will go inside the app folder. Also, you may be wondering what “.ts” means. Why isn’t the file extension “.js”, like all my JavaScript? Well, Angular 2 is made for TypeScript, a JavaScript superset that has capabilities not included in ES5. You can use ES5, but this guide is specifically made for TS. If you’d like to read more, click this link. Moving on, create a file in the app folder, called “main.ts” containing this code.

import { bootstrap }    from '@angular/platform-browser-dynamic';
import { AppComponent } from './app.component';
bootstrap(AppComponent);

Now, we need HTML to view the what we have created. In the root folder (not app), create your index.html file. Then, add the following code:

<html>
  <head>
    <title>Angular 2 QuickStart</title>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="styles.css">
    <!-- 1. Load libraries -->
     <!-- Polyfill(s) for older browsers -->
    <script src="node_modules/core-js/client/shim.min.js"></script>
    <script src="node_modules/zone.js/dist/zone.js"></script>
    <script src="node_modules/reflect-metadata/Reflect.js"></script>
    <script src="node_modules/systemjs/dist/system.src.js"></script>
    <!-- 2. Configure SystemJS -->
    <script src="systemjs.config.js"></script>
    <script>
      System.import('app').catch(function(err){ console.error(err); });
    </script>
  </head>
  <!-- 3. Display the application -->
  <body>
    <my-app>Loading...</my-app>
  </body>
</html>

After that, adding some styles would make things look a lot nicer. Create a file called styles.css in the root folder of your working directory.

h1 {
  color: #369;
  font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
  font-size: 250%;
}
body {
  margin: 2em;
}

 /*
  * See https://github.com/angular/angular.io/blob/master/public/docs/_examples/styles.css
  * for the full set of master styles used by the documentation samples
  */

After that, you are all set! Run npm start in your terminal, and watch the Angular 2 magic happen! From there, you can start adding more components. Again, you can refer to angular documentation for help.