What is NgRx?

NgRx is a State Management Library for Angular Applications that is used to control the state of an application’s components. It offers a reactive approach, which allows to handle data and events inside the application with ease. It is most effective in large-scale Angular applications where the state of the application has to be well managed. For instance, through patterns such as Flux, it in angular makes it easier for developers to have all the events in a single state and mimic changes through actions. This is useful when designing the application’s data flow, as it helps in keeping the data structure and flow in check and is therefore suited for complex applications. 

What is NgRx?

It is one of the Angular state management systems that is designed to affect the state changes of an application. It is a reactive approach, meaning that it is easier to handle events and data flow within the given application. It is most effective in large-scale Angular applications where there is the need for a standard and reliable means of managing the state. Because of patterns like Flux, it manages to make all events flow into one state. In it, to handle changes in the application state, the actions are used to update these changes, thus making it easier to manage the app’s data.

When should you use NgRx? Is NgRx worth it?

You should consider using it in your Angular app when you work with a lot of information or have a complicated state to manage. It reduces the data flow to Redux-like patterns, the main feature of which is unidirectional data flow. This helps to know the state of your application and therefore better control it.

It has five main components:

• Store: It is the client-side database of your application and helps in storing the state of your application.
• Actions: Illustrate activities that occur in an application, such as users’ actions and requests to a network.
• Reducers: State transitions should be managed by actions that are made in response to certain happenings.
• Selectors: Enable you to hear when the state has changed.
• Effects: Minimise the effects of actions that were performed.

These components combine to create a well organized and deterministic state management mechanism. If your application requires a lot of data transfer or has to maintain clear state, then it is perfect for you.

What is AngularJS?

Angular JS is one of the open source JavaScript framework that is used in development of new generation web application. With the assistance of TypeScript and HTML, it helps to create new generation client-side programs and applications. Some of the aspects of AngularJS include dependency injection and data binding that help minimize the code that is required in developing dynamic web applications. This framework employs HTML as a template language to construct the application, and the different aspects of the application can be elaborated by extending HTML.

What is the Use of NgRx in Angular?

It is used to control the state of Angular applications. It also makes the flow of data consistent across the various parts of the application, and the state is maintained throughout the application. That is, when the data changes,it will ensure that these changes are reflected in the state; this is especially helpful when one is developing complex applications. With the help of it, it becomes easy for the developers to develop applications that manage shared states and services effectively.

How to Use the NgRx Store with Angular?

To work with it store in Angular, the following steps have to be followed from installation to making the store available in the application. 

Below is a quick guide to follow to get you kickstarted.

Step 1: Installing NgRx

For installation of it you can use npm, Yarn or Angular CLI. Simply run the following command:

npm install @ngrx/store –save

This command will add it to your Angular project, allowing you to start using it for state management.

Step 2: Creating the Store

After installing it, create a new directory called store within your src/app folder. This is where all your it store files will reside.

Start by creating an interface for your data model, for example, article.model.ts. Next, create an action file, such as articles.actions.ts, where you define the actions for your application. You will also need a reducer file, course.reducer.ts, to handle state transitions. Lastly, create a state model, state.model.ts, to centralize all application states.

Step 3: Registering the NgRx Store

Once your store is set up, you need to register it within your Angular application. Open the app.module.ts file and import the reducer you created.  Then it has to be added to the imports array so its used can be incorporated into the application.

• import { StoreModule } from ‘@ngrx/store’;
• import reducer from ./store/course.reducer’;

@NgModule({
  imports: [
    StoreModule.forRoot({ courses: reducer })
  ],
})
export class AppModule {}

Step 4: Using the NgRx Store

With it registered, you can start using it in your Angular components. For example, in your app.component.ts file, subscribe to the store to access data and manage state changes. Here’s a basic example:

import { Store } from '@ngrx/store';
import { Observable } from 'rxjs';
import { addArticle } from './store/articles.actions';

@Component({
  selector: 'app-root',
  templateUrl: './app.component.html',
})
export class AppComponent {
  articles$: Observable<Article[]>;

  constructor(private store: Store<{ articles: Article[] }>) {
    this.articles$ = store.select('articles');
  }

  addArticle(article: Article) {
    this.store.dispatch(addArticle({ article }));
  }
}

In this example, we subscribe to the store to retrieve the list of articles and use the addArticle() function to dispatch actions that update the state.

For a deeper dive into Angular development, you can explore more through this Angular JS Certification Course.

Conclusion

NgRx in agngular is great when it comes to state management in Angular applications and especially when working on massive applications with a lot of data to handle. According to the current understanding, It is an excellent tool that may help developers build applications with good and stable state management. From the above, one is now in a position to start using it in any Angular-related application.

FAQs

What is NgRx?

It is an official state management library for Angular which purely follows the principles of Reactive Programming to manage state and events. It is very helpful for applications that require a well-coordinated and controlled state management across a vast number of elements.

Why should one use NgRx in Angular? 

It also helps in reducing complexity of state management through enforcing the unidirectional data flow and state management at a single place. This makes it easier to then anticipate the application’s behavior and establish the necessary transitions in the state.

Can we use NgRx with AngularJS? 

That is not true, it is developed for Angular (version 2 and above) and can’t be used in AngularJS (version 1. x. For the AngularJS applications other state management tools like ng-admin or angular-meteor might be more suitable.

How does NgRx handle the operations that are invoked over time? 

It uses Effects component to handle side effects, for instance, HTTP requests. These effects listen to each action and have the ability of executing tasks such as getting data or updating the server and then returns new actions.

Is NgRx a good fit for small Angular applications? 

It is most beneficial for large scale applications which require a lot of state management. For smaller applications or for simpler state management solutions or even the out of the box services provided by Angular it is advisable to use simpler and easy to implement solutions.