What is Routing in Angular
💡 Concept Name
Angular Routing – A mechanism that enables navigation between different components or views in a single-page application (SPA) without reloading the page.
📘 Quick Intro
Routing in Angular maps URL paths to components using the Angular Router module. It lets users navigate across application pages while keeping the app responsive and dynamic.
🧠 Analogy / Short Story
Imagine a single-page website as a large mansion. Routing is like internal doors that guide you to different rooms without ever leaving the house — seamless, quick, and organized.
🔧 Technical Explanation
- 🧭 Uses
RouterModule.forRoot(routes)to configure navigation paths. - 🧱 Each route maps a path to a specific component.
- 🔗
<a routerLink="/path"></a>is used instead of traditional anchor tags. - 📍
<router-outlet>is a placeholder where the routed component gets rendered. - 🔁 Supports nested routes, route guards, lazy loading, and parameterized routes.
🎯 Purpose & Use Case
- ✅ Enable client-side navigation in SPAs.
- ✅ Dynamically render components without page reloads.
- ✅ Create a scalable structure with route guards and child routes.
💻 Real Code Example
// app-routing.module.ts
import { NgModule } from '@angular/core';
import { RouterModule, Routes } from '@angular/router';
import { HomeComponent } from './home/home.component';
import { AboutComponent } from './about/about.component';
const routes: Routes = [
{ path: '', component: HomeComponent },
{ path: 'about', component: AboutComponent }
];
@NgModule({
imports: [RouterModule.forRoot(routes)],
exports: [RouterModule]
})
export class AppRoutingModule { }
<!-- app.component.html -->
<nav>
<a routerLink="/">Home</a>
<a routerLink="/about">About</a>
</nav>
<router-outlet></router-outlet>
❓ Interview Q&A
Q1: What is routing in Angular?
A: It's the process of navigating between different views/components using URL paths in a SPA.
Q2: What directive is used to insert routed components?
A: <router-outlet>.
Q3: How do you navigate programmatically?
A: Using the Router.navigate() method.
Q4: Can routing be lazy-loaded?
A: Yes, using Angular’s lazy-loading module strategy.
Q5: What is the purpose of routerLink?
A: To bind navigation paths to anchor tags without full-page reloads.
📝 MCQs
Q1. What is used to configure routing in Angular?
- NgModule
- BrowserModule
- RouterModule
- FormsModule
Q2. What tag acts as a placeholder for routed components?
- ng-view
- ng-content
- router-outlet
- router-display
Q3. What does routerLink do?
- Handles backend routing
- Binds path for client-side navigation
- Refreshes page
- Links to CSS
Q4. Which method allows programmatic navigation?
- routeTo()
- jumpTo()
- navigate()
- switchRoute()
Q5. What is lazy loading in routing?
- Always loading all modules
- Loading routes only when needed
- Removing unused routes
- Reloading pages
Q6. Which file defines route configuration?
- app.component.ts
- main.ts
- app.module.ts
- app-routing.module.ts
Q7. What kind of application benefits most from routing?
- Static sites
- Single-page applications
- Multi-page apps
- Native apps
Q8. What is the purpose of RouterModule.forRoot()?
- Handle HTTP calls
- Create services
- Register top-level routes
- Validate routes
Q9. Which router directive replaces traditional anchor tag href?
- href
- ngHref
- routerLink
- navLink
Q10. What happens when an invalid route is entered?
- App crashes
- Nothing
- Browser reloads
- 404 or fallback route is activated
💡 Bonus Insight
Angular routing supports route guards (like authentication checks), nested child routes, dynamic parameterized paths, and lazy-loaded modules — helping you scale applications cleanly and efficiently.
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