Exploring Angular — Part 5: Forms
If you missed the previous article on Pipes, you can catch up right here: Exploring Angular — Part 4: Pipes.
Understanding Angular Forms
At its core, an Angular form is a way to collect and manage user input. Forms are an integral part of web applications, enabling users to provide information, make selections, and interact with the application. Angular takes form handling to the next level by providing a powerful set of tools and features.
Types of Angular Forms
Angular offers two main types of forms:
1. Template-Driven Forms
Template-driven forms are ideal for building simple forms with minimal TypeScript code. These forms rely heavily on Angular directives, which are special instructions you add to your HTML template.
Creating a template-driven form involves adding directives like ngForm, ngModel, and ngSubmit to your form elements. Here's a basic example of a template-driven form:
<form #myForm="ngForm" (ngSubmit)="onSubmit()">
<input type="text" name="name" [(ngModel)]="userData.name" required>
<input type="email" name="email" [(ngModel)]="userData.email" required>
<button type="submit">Submit</button>
</form>In this example, we use ngForm to create the form, ngModel to bind input fields to data properties, and ngSubmit to handle form submission.
2. Reactive Forms
Reactive forms are a more powerful and flexible approach to handling forms in Angular. They are driven by TypeScript code, making them suitable for complex forms that require dynamic validation and interactivity.
To create a reactive form, you’ll define the form structure and validation rules in your component file. Here’s a simplified example:
import { Component } from '@angular/core';
import { FormBuilder, FormGroup, Validators } from '@angular/forms';
@Component({
selector: 'app-my-form',
templateUrl: './my-form.component.html',
})
export class MyFormComponent {
myForm: FormGroup;
constructor(private fb: FormBuilder) {
this.myForm = this.fb.group({
name: ['', [Validators.required]],
email: [''…