Exploring Angular — Part 10: Lazy Loading
If you missed the previous article on Route Guards, you can catch up right here: Exploring Angular — Part 9: Route Guards.
Unpacking Angular Lazy Loading
Angular lazy loading is like a well-organized library where you only take out the books you need when you need them. In the context of web development, it’s a technique that allows you to load parts of your application only when users navigate to them. This means faster initial loading times, better resource management, and a smoother overall user experience.
The Problem Lazy Loading Solves
Imagine you have a large and complex Angular application with multiple feature modules. If you load everything at once, users will have to wait for a hefty initial download, leading to slower app startup times. This isn’t an ideal experience, especially for users on slower connections or devices.
Lazy loading comes to the rescue by splitting your application into smaller, more manageable “chunks.” Each chunk contains the code and assets required for a specific feature or route. Angular loads these chunks on-demand, as users navigate to the corresponding parts of your application.
Implementing Lazy Loading
To set up lazy loading in Angular, you need to:
- Organize your application into feature modules.
- Configure your routes to use the
loadChildrenproperty, which specifies the module to load when a route is accessed.
Here’s a simplified example of a lazy-loaded route configuration:
const routes: Routes = [
{ path: 'dashboard', loadChildren: () => import('./dashboard/dashboard.module').then(m => m.DashboardModule) },
];In this example, when a user navigates to /dashboard, Angular will load the DashboardModule only when needed.
Benefits of Angular Lazy Loading
- Faster Initial Load: Lazy loading reduces the initial load time, as only the necessary code and assets are downloaded.
- Improved Performance: Smaller module chunks result in faster navigation between views within your app.