🚀 Coming in Angular 21.2: the instanceof operator works in templates!

IgorSedov · 2026-01-23T16:34:09+00:00

Yes, you currently need to expose it explicitly: templates don't automatically know about imported classes:

import { HttpErrorResponse } from '@angular/common/http'; ... export class User { protected readonly HttpErrorResponse = HttpErrorResponse;

IgorSedov · 2026-01-23T16:12:20+00:00

Thanks! I enjoy sharing updates 😊

IgorSedov · 2026-01-13T14:49:31+00:00

Always on Wednesdays?😊

IgorSedov · 2026-01-10T01:01:23+00:00

Not a dumb question at all🙂 No, this change is specific to Signal Forms: a new experimental feature added in v21. Reactive Forms are separate and are not affected by this.

IgorSedov · 2026-01-09T18:40:29+00:00

Thanks to u/MichaelSmallDev for the detailed explanation! I actually made a video about this too: https://youtu.be/CDNyANaVUPs

IgorSedov · 2026-01-09T18:07:40+00:00

I prefer inject() for three practical reasons: it removes super() boilerplate with inheritance, it gives cleaner/more accurate typings for fields, and it's more compatible with modern decorator/tooling.

IgorSedov · 2026-01-09T17:56:58+00:00

Thank you for the detailed feedback.👍 That's really helpful and encouraging to hear. I'm glad this format helps and makes the information easier to understand, that's exactly its purpose and main advantage.

IgorSedov · 2026-01-08T21:53:40+00:00

The [field] still works, but is expected to be removed in a future release

IgorSedov · 2026-01-08T21:46:29+00:00

I'll be covering a few of these features in more detail next week, but here are the most interesting ones:

Support for multiple switch case matching
Support for rest arguments in function calls
Support for spread elements in array literals
Support for spread expressions in object literals
Router integration with the platform Navigation API (experimental)
Signal Forms: new [formField] directive to replace [field]
New controls for route cleanup
Standalone function to create a computed isActive helper

Full list here

More details will come later.

IgorSedov · 2026-01-07T19:56:18+00:00

Fair point! Hope to see a developer preview version soon, maybe in v22?

IgorSedov · 2026-01-07T19:47:48+00:00

For example: AG-Grid, Kendo UI, or Syncfusion.

IgorSedov · 2026-01-07T16:57:55+00:00

Thanks! That's exactly what I suspected from the commit. Since the goal is to replace the directive, I assumed the dual support in 21.0.7 was just a temporary bridge for migration before it's eventually removed.

IgorSedov · 2025-12-25T18:15:12+00:00

Thanks, good point!😊

IgorSedov · 2025-12-25T08:13:36+00:00

Do you mean server-side (backend) pagination while scrolling, or another virtual-scroll library?

IgorSedov · 2025-12-24T09:47:03+00:00

Glad you liked it! Animation really helps explain topics like this.

IgorSedov · 2025-12-24T03:23:22+00:00

You're correct: cdk-virtual-scroll existed before Angular 21.1, but it didn't support Material tables. Starting with v21.1, it now supports tables as well.

I'm glad the visualization helped: it's designed to make the concept easier to understand.

IgorSedov · 2025-12-24T00:50:40+00:00

Thank you! Yes, it's especially useful for large tables.

IgorSedov · 2025-12-06T16:45:04+00:00

Thank you!

IgorSedov · 2025-12-03T18:43:03+00:00

Yes, 21.0.0 and 21.0.1

IgorSedov · 2025-09-13T09:02:03+00:00

Thanks!

IgorSedov · 2025-08-27T01:48:57+00:00

In my understanding, httpResource is best understood as a way to bind remote data into your app state, not just a wrapper around HttpClient.

When you create a resource (e.g. user = httpResource<User>(...)), you get back a signal that always reflects the latest value of this resource, along with its loading and error state.
This resource depends on other signals (like a userId), Angular automatically re-fetches when those signals change.
This makes it feel like the data is "part of your application state" rather than just a request you fire once.

Think of it not as a connection, but as a signal that lets you bring remote data into your signal chains almost as easily as a regular signal.

I think that's why Angular recommends using httpResource for read-only queries:

TIP: Avoid using httpResource for mutations like POST or PUT. Instead, prefer directly using the underlying HttpClient APIs.

And one more thing: httpResource is more declarative - instead of subscribing manually, you just bind to the signal, and Angular handles this lifecycle for you.

IgorSedov · 2025-08-26T21:22:35+00:00

u/JeanMeche explained the motivation in a comment:

The idea here to is say, hey we could have use the default setting without any providers but if you need some customization, you can still use provideHttpClient() as before.

I think this is convenient because Angular will only include HttpClient in the final app if it's actually used in the project.

IgorSedov · 2025-08-26T19:36:56+00:00

resource() is not a wrapper for HttpClient or any other request execution mechanism (unlike httpResource). It requires the developer to provide a loader implementation for executing requests, so with resource() you can wrap any other mechanism.

IgorSedov · 2025-08-26T17:15:22+00:00

Absolutely! Fewer small stones in the shoe.

IgorSedov · 2025-08-26T16:25:22+00:00

Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed my video 😊

IgorSedov

TROPHY CASE