Angular Standalone Components Explained | Generated by AI

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Question: How to understand standalone components in Angular?

Answer:

Standalone components are one of the most important changes in modern Angular (introduced in Angular 14 as developer preview, became production-ready in Angular 15, and became the recommended default way of writing components starting with Angular 16+).

What “Standalone” Actually Means

A standalone component is a component that:

In short: it removes the need for the classic NgModule boilerplate in most cases.

Classic (NgModule-based) way – before standalone

// classic.component.ts
@Component({
  selector: 'app-classic',
  template: `<h1>Hello</h1>`,
  standalone: false   // ← default / not needed
})
export class ClassicComponent {}

// You MUST declare it inside a module
@NgModule({
  declarations: [ClassicComponent],
  imports: [CommonModule, FormsModule],
  exports: [ClassicComponent]
})
export class SomeModule {}

Standalone way – modern Angular (2023–2026 style)

// modern.component.ts
import { Component } from '@angular/core';
import { CommonModule } from '@angular/common';
import { FormsModule } from '@angular/forms';
import { MatButtonModule } from '@angular/material/button';
import { HighlightDirective } from './highlight.directive';

@Component({
  selector: 'app-modern',
  standalone: true,                           // ← this is the key line
  imports: [                                  // ← list everything this component needs
    CommonModule,
    FormsModule,
    MatButtonModule,
    HighlightDirective,                       // ← can import other standalone components/directives
    // You can also import whole NgModules if needed (transition period)
  ],
  template: `
    <h1>Hello from standalone!</h1>
    <input type="text" [(ngModel)]="name">
    <button mat-button>Click</button>
  `
})
export class ModernComponent {
  name = 'Angular';
}

How Standalone Components Are Used (no NgModule needed)

  1. In the router (most common use-case today)
const routes: Routes = [
  { path: 'home', component: HomeComponent },           // ← standalone component
  { path: 'profile', component: ProfileComponent },
  { path: '', redirectTo: '/home', pathMatch: 'full' }
];
  1. Inside another component’s template
<!-- parent.component.html -->
<app-modern></app-modern>
<app-user-card [user]="currentUser"></app-user-card>
  1. As the root component (bootstrapApplication)
// main.ts
import { bootstrapApplication } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { provideRouter } from '@angular/router';
import { AppComponent } from './app.component';
import { routes } from './app.routes';

bootstrapApplication(AppComponent, {
  providers: [
    provideRouter(routes)
  ]
});

Quick Comparison Table – NgModule vs Standalone

Aspect NgModule-based (classic) Standalone (modern)
Needs an NgModule? Yes, always No
Where do you list imports? In the NgModule Directly in @Component({ imports: […] })
Reusability Need to export from module Can be imported directly anywhere
Boilerplate High (module + declarations + exports) Very low
Tree-shaking Worse Better (especially with lazy-loading)
Learning curve (new devs) Steep because of modules Much easier – feels like React/Vue/Solid
Recommended in 2025–2026? Only for legacy or very large monorepos Yes – default for new projects

Mental Model – Think of Standalone Like This

A standalone component is like a small, self-contained mini-application:

It’s very close to how components work in React, Vue, Svelte, etc.

Best Way to Start Understanding in Practice (2026)

  1. Create a new project with standalone (default since Angular 17):
ng new my-app --standalone
  1. Generate components as standalone (default behavior now):
ng g component user-card    # → creates standalone: true automatically
  1. Look at the generated code → you will almost never see declarations: [] or NgModules anymore.

That’s the quickest way to “feel” what standalone means.

Standalone is not just a syntax — it’s Angular’s shift to a simpler, more modern component model that removes most of the module ceremony while keeping all the powerful features (dependency injection, lazy-loading, etc.).

References:

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