Episode 24/29: Converging Frameworks, SSR with Igor Minar
Minko Gechev talked about the convergence of frameworks at the dotJs conference. Igor Minar and Natalia Venditto discussed SSR together with Esther White. A migration script for converting constructor to inject-based DI will come and the future of Angular Material is save.
constructor vs inject()
There is an ongoing discussion about using inject or constructor for dependency injection. There is no official recommendation yet, and both versions are supported.
Nevertheless, a migrator will land in Angular 18.2 which converts constructor-based DI to inject. That is because the need came mainly from Google’s internal Angular applications. Additionally, projects that don’t want the experimental decorators will also have to use inject.
Cypress 13.3 with better Signals support
Cypress, a testing framework, brought out a new version for its component testing. It now includes native support for Signals for the Input and Output properties.
Converging Frameworks
At the dotJs conference, Minko Gechev, Angular product lead, argued that all frameworks are currently merging regarding technical features. As a result, in the future, other than technical criteria might become important when choosing a framework.
SSR with Igor Minar & Natalia Venditto at Esther White’s
Esther White hosted Igor Minar, former Angular tech lead, and Natalia Venditto on her YouTube channel.
Igor argued that SSR should be the default. He countered the argument that internal applications don’t need SSR with a metaphor: This is like you don’t clean up your house because nobody is seeing.
Natalia added that usually, user experience should trump developer experience.
Igor also suggested that Google put together some funding for the Analog project. A meta-framework, like Analog, is something that Angular needs most but not inside of Google.
Future of Angular Material
You might have heard that Material Web Components are no longer maintained. The Angular team announced that this has no impact on Angular Material. They are still extending and maintaining it.