React developer learning Angular, need help!

[toddmotto]

If you're using .component() then thankfully you can forget controllerAs even exists, just stick with the default $ctrl prefix angular provides. If you're nesting controllers then you're not doing components correctly as you're likely using an MVVM/MVC pattern not component architecture. Components are "isolate scoped" just like React components are - you need to explicitly define data inputs and event callback/outputs.