Deborah's Developer MindScape

This post identifies the changes to the “Angular 2: Getting Started” Pluralsight course from its first release on April 1st, 2016 to its update October 18th, 2016.

Angular 2 first appeared around June of 2015 as alpha.27. The first beta release of Angular 2 was December 12, 2015, a great time to start on an Angular 2 getting started course. The first release of the “Angular 2: Getting Started” course was on April 1st, 2016. The code examples for the course were valid through Angular beta.15. From that time until release, Angular underwent numerous changes … some, such as the new router and the introduction of Angular modules, were significant.

Angular 2.0.0 was released on September 14th, 2016, so that was a great time to update the “Angular 2: Getting Started” course. The changes made to each module of the course are outlined below.

If you have already watched the course and want to minimize which modules to re-watch, I’d suggest modules 2, 10, 11, and 12. That would provide the basics on Angular modules (NgModule) and the new router.

Module 1: Introduction

• Introduced Angular modules.
• Updated Course Outline.

Module 2: First Things First

• Demoed how to get a more current version of npm.
• Revised setup steps including the application’s root Angular module.
• Updated discussion of AngularCli.
• Updated demos for setting up Angular 2.
• Enhanced discussion in “About Modules” regarding the difference between ES modules and Angular modules.

Module 3: Introduction to Components

• Updated demos for new import statements (import from @angular/… instead of angular2/…)
• A first cut of the app.component.ts is now included as part of the starter files. This changes some of the initial steps when building the app.component.ts file.
• Added a callout to point out the use of the back tick (not quotes) for defining the inline template.
• Bootstrapping process now includes the application’s root Angular module.
• Additional checklist for resolving issues when coding along.

Module 4: Templates, Interpolation, and Directives

• Updated demos for new import statements (import from @angular/… instead of angular2/…).
• Added steps to update the application’s root Angular module (AppModule).
• Added information on how an Angular module defines the boundary or context within which the component resolves its directives and dependencies.
• Added a demonstration of a common Angular error and how to fix it.
• Updated the ngFor syntax to match the released syntax using the let keyword instead of #.

Module 5: Data Binding & Pipes

• Updated demos for new import statements (import from @angular/… instead of angular2/…).
• Added information on adding FormsModule to an Angular module so the template can use ngModel for two-way binding.

Module 6: More on Components

• Updated demos for new import statements (import from @angular/… instead of angular2/…).
• Updated the code for the pipe transform to match the new transform signature.
• Added a step to add the custom pipe to an Angular module.
• Added a clip on using component-relative paths by setting module Ids.

Module 7: Building Nested Components

• Updated demos for new import statements (import from @angular/… instead of angular2/…).
• Added a step to add the nested component to an Angular module.

Module 8: Services and Dependency Injection

• Updated demos for new import statements (import from @angular/… instead of angular2/…).
• Mentioned how service can be registered in an Angular module.

Module 9: Retrieving Data Using Http

• Updated demos for new import statements (import from @angular/… instead of angular2/…).
• Enhanced discussion of Observables.
• Enhanced the comparison between Promises and Observables.
• Removed the setup clip since these setup steps are no longer valid.
• Added a step to add Http to an Angular module.
• Separated out the exception handling to its own clip.

Module 10: Navigation and Routing Basics

• Divided this course module into two modules: 10 and 11.
• Major modifications throughout to change to the current router.
• Expanded on the details for how routing works.
• Enhanced the discussion of Html 5 vs hash style routes.
• Updated demos for new import statements (import from @angular/… instead of angular2/…).
• Added steps to add the remaining components to an Angular module.

Module 11: Navigation and Routing Additional Techniques

• This new module is the second half of the prior module.
• Major modifications throughout to change to the current router.
• Updated demos for new import statements (import from @angular/… instead of angular2/…).
• Added a clip on route guards.

Module 12: Angular Modules

• This new module is all about Angular modules. It covers:
  • The definition and purpose of an Angular module.
  • Understanding the Angular module metadata and its many rules.
  • Refactoring the sample application and creating a feature module.
  • Minimizing repetition by creating a shared module.
  • Reexamining the root application module (AppModule).
  • A look at building separate routing modules.
  • And summarizing options for your Angular module architecture.

Module 13: Angular 2 Setup Revisited

• Updated the demos to the Angular 2 release setup files.
• Added discussion of the systemjs.config.js file.
• Added discussion of the bootstrapping process differences for the Just in Time (JiT) compiler vs the Ahead of Time (AoT) compiler.
• Added discussion of the Angular CLI.

Module 14: Final Words

• Minor wording changes.

Enjoy!