AngularJS is an open source web application framework. It was originally developed in 2009 by Misko Hevery and Adam Abrons. It is now maintained by Google. Its latest version is 1.4.3.
Definition of AngularJS as per documentation is as follows
AngularJS is a structural framework for dynamic web apps. It lets you use HTML as your template language and lets you extend HTML's syntax to express your application's components clearly and succinctly. Angular's data binding and dependency injection eliminate much of the code you currently have to write. And it all happens within the browser, making it an ideal partner with any server technology.
Advantages of AngularJS
1. AngularJS is a powerful JavaScript based development framework to create SPA (single page application).
2. AngularJS provides developers options to write client side application and it uses MVC framework.
3. AngularJS is cross-browser compliant.
4. AngularJS is open source, completely free, and used by thousands of developers around the world.
Core Features
Data-binding - It automatically synchronizes data between model and view components.
Scope − These are objects that refer to the model. They act as a glue between controller and view.
Controller − These are JavaScript functions that are bound to a particular scope.
Services − AngularJS come with several built-in services for example $http to make a
XMLHttpRequests. These are singleton objects which are instantiated only once in app.
Filters − These select a subset of items from an array and returns a new array.
Directives − Directives are markers on DOM elements (such as elements, attributes, css, and more). These can be used to create custom HTML tags that serve as new, custom widgets. AngularJS has built-in directives (ngBind, ngModel...)
Templates − These are the rendered view with information from the controller and model. These can be a single file (like index.html) or multiple views in one page using "partials".
Routing − It is concept of switching views.
Model View Whatever − MVC is a design pattern for dividing an application into different parts (called Model, View and Controller), each with distinct responsibilities. AngularJS does not implement MVC in the traditional sense, but rather something closer to MVVM (Model-View-ViewModel). The Angular JS team refers it humorously as Model View Whatever.
Deep Linking − Deep linking allows you to encode the state of application in the URL so that it can be bookmarked. The application can then be restored from the URL to the same state.
Dependency Injection − AngularJS has a built-in dependency injection subsystem that helps the developer by making the application easier to develop, understand, and test.
The AngularJS Components
The AngularJS framework can be divided into following three major parts
ng-app − This directive defines and links an AngularJS application to HTML.
ng-model − This directive binds the values of AngularJS application data to HTML input controls.
ng-bind − This directive binds the AngularJS Application data to HTML tags.