Angular Material and the Angular Component Development Kit (CDK) significantly simplify the process of developing and enhancing Angular applications with Material Design. By utilizing a series of schematics provided by these libraries, developers can streamline the integration of various Material Design components into their projects. Here’s a guide on how to get started with these powerful tools.
Installation of Schematics
Schematics are powerful scripts included with both @angular/cdk and @angular/material packages. Once installed, these schematics can be executed via the Angular CLI to automate the configuration and setup process, ensuring a smooth incorporation of Material Design into your projects.
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To Install Angular Material, CDK, and Angular Animations, use the following CLI command. This command not only installs the necessary packages but also performs essential project configurations:
ng add @angular/material -
For Installing Only the Angular CDK, if you’re looking to leverage the advanced components without the full Material Design suite, execute:
ng add @angular/cdk
Automatic Configuration with ng add @angular/material
Running ng add @angular/material does more than just add dependencies. It configures your project to embrace Material Design by:
- Adding necessary dependencies to
package.json. - Enabling
BrowserAnimationsModule. - Incorporating a prebuilt or custom Material Design theme.
- Including Roboto fonts and Material Icon fonts in your project.
- Applying global styles that align with Material Design principles.
Rapid Component Generation
Beyond basic setup, Angular Material and the CDK offer a suite of schematics for generating components pre-configured with Material Design:
- Address Form: Generates a form for capturing shipping addresses.
- Navigation: Creates a component with a responsive sidenav and toolbar.
- Dashboard: Produces a layout with Material cards and menus.
- Table: Configures a data table with capabilities for sorting and pagination.
- Tree: Visualizes a nested folder structure.
The Angular CDK extends this functionality with schematics like drag-drop, enabling developers to create interactive components with ease.
Generating Components with Schematics
To generate a component using these schematics, the Angular CLI commands follow a simple pattern:
ng generate @angular/material:<schematic-name> <component-name>
For instance, to generate a navigation component, you would run:
ng generate @angular/material:navigation my-navigation
Conclusion
Angular Material and the Angular CDK schematics offer an invaluable resource for developers looking to quickly and efficiently integrate Material Design into their Angular applications. By automating the setup and configuration process and providing templates for common UI components, these tools help create visually appealing and functional user interfaces with minimal effort.
Whether you’re building a small project or a large enterprise application, leveraging Angular Material and CDK schematics can significantly speed up development and ensure a consistent, user-friendly design across your application.
