[angular] @Directive vs @Component in Angular

What is the difference between @Component and @Directive in Angular? Both of them seem to do the same task and have the same attributes.

What are the use cases and when to prefer one over another?

Change detection

Only @Component can be a node in the change detection tree. This means that you cannot set ChangeDetectionStrategy.OnPush in a @Directive. Despite this fact, a Directive can have @Input and @Output properties and you can inject and manipulate host component's ChangeDetectorRef from it. So use Components when you need a granular control over your change detection tree.

A component is a directive-with-a-template and the @Component decorator is actually a @Directive decorator extended with template-oriented features.

If you refer the official angular docs

https://angular.io/guide/attribute-directives

There are three kinds of directives in Angular:

1. Components—directives with a template.
2. Structural directives—change the DOM layout by adding and removing DOM elements. e.g *ngIf
3. Attribute directives—change the appearance or behavior of an element, component, or another directive. e.g [ngClass].

As the Application grows we find difficulty in maintaining all these codes. For reusability purpose, we separate our logic in smart components and dumb components and we use directives (structural or attribute) to make changes in the DOM.

Components

1. To register a component we use @Component meta-data annotation.
2. Component is a directive which uses shadow DOM to create encapsulated visual behavior called components. Components are typically used to create UI widgets.
3. Component is used to break up the application into smaller components.
4. Only one component can be present per DOM element.
5. @View decorator or templateurl template are mandatory in the component.

Directive

1. To register directives we use @Directive meta-data annotation.
2. Directive is used to add behavior to an existing DOM element.
3. Directive is use to design re-usable components.
4. Many directives can be used per DOM element.
5. Directive doesn't use View.

Sources:

http://www.codeandyou.com/2016/01/difference-between-component-and-directive-in-Angular2.html

In Angular 2 and above, “everything is a component.” Components are the main way we build and specify elements and logic on the page, through both custom elements and attributes that add functionality to our existing components.

http://learnangular2.com/components/

But what directives do then in Angular2+ ?

Attribute directives attach behaviour to elements.

There are three kinds of directives in Angular:

1. Components—directives with a template.
2. Structural directives—change the DOM layout by adding and removing DOM elements.
3. Attribute directives—change the appearance or behaviour of an element, component, or another directive.

https://angular.io/docs/ts/latest/guide/attribute-directives.html

So what's happening in Angular2 and above is Directives are attributes which add functionalities to elements and components.

Look at the sample below from Angular.io:

import { Directive, ElementRef, Input } from '@angular/core';

@Directive({ selector: '[myHighlight]' })
export class HighlightDirective {
    constructor(el: ElementRef) {
       el.nativeElement.style.backgroundColor = 'yellow';
    }
}

So what it does, it will extends you components and HTML elements with adding yellow background and you can use it as below:

<p myHighlight>Highlight me!</p>

But components will create full elements with all functionalities like below:

import { Component } from '@angular/core';

@Component({
  selector: 'my-component',
  template: `
    <div>Hello my name is {{name}}. 
      <button (click)="sayMyName()">Say my name</button>
    </div>
   `
})
export class MyComponent {
  name: string;
  constructor() {
    this.name = 'Alireza'
  }
  sayMyName() {
    console.log('My name is', this.name)
  }
}

and you can use it as below:

<my-component></my-component>

When we use the tag in the HTML, this component will be created and the constructor get called and rendered.

In a programming context, directives provide guidance to the compiler to alter how it would otherwise process input, i.e change some behaviour.

“Directives allow you to attach behavior to elements in the DOM.”

directives are split into the 3 categories:

• Attribute
• Structural
• Component

Yes, in Angular 2, Components are a type of Directive. According to the Doc,

“Angular components are a subset of directives. Unlike directives, components always have a template and only one component can be instantiated per an element in a template.”

Angular 2 Components are an implementation of the Web Component concept. Web Components consists of several separate technologies. You can think of Web Components as reusable user interface widgets that are created using open Web technology.

• So in summary directives The mechanism by which we attach behavior to elements in the DOM, consisting of Structural, Attribute and Component types.
• Components are the specific type of directive that allows us to utilize web component functionality AKA reusability - encapsulated, reusable elements available throughout our application.

Components

Components are the most basic UI building block of an Angular app. An Angular app contains a tree of Angular components. Our application in Angular is built on a component tree. Every component should have its template, styling, life cycle, selector, etc. So, every component has its structure You can treat them as an apart standalone small web application with own template and logic and a possibility to communicate and be used together with other components.

Sample .ts file for Component:

import { Component } from '@angular/core';

@Component({
    // component attributes
    selector: 'app-training',
    templateUrl: './app-training.component.html',
    styleUrls: ['./app-training.component.less']
})

export class AppTrainingComponent {
    title = 'my-app-training';
}

and its ./app.component.html template view:

Hello {{title}}

Then you can render AppTrainingComponent template with its logic in other components (after adding it into module)

<div>
   <app-training></app-training>
</div>

and the result will be

<div>
   my-app-training
</div>

as AppTrainingComponent was rendered here

See more about Components

Directives

Directive changes the appearance or behavior of an existing DOM element. For example [ngStyle] is a directive. Directives can extend components (can be used inside them) but they don't build a whole application. Let's say they just support components. They don't have its own template (but of course, you can manipulate template with them).

Sample directive:

@Directive({
  selector: '[appHighlight]'
})
export class HighlightDirective {

  constructor(private el: ElementRef) { }

  @Input('appHighlight') highlightColor: string;

  @HostListener('mouseenter') onMouseEnter() {
    this.highlight(this.highlightColor || 'red');
  }

  private highlight(color: string) {
    this.el.nativeElement.style.backgroundColor = color;
  }
}

And its usage:

<p [appHighlight]="color" [otherPar]="someValue">Highlight me!</p>

See more about directives