The Angular Command Line Interface (CLI) is a powerful tool that simplifies the development process of Angular applications. It provides a set of commands to create, build, test, and deploy Angular applications efficiently. In this section, we will cover the following topics:

1. Introduction to Angular CLI
2. Installing Angular CLI
3. Creating a New Angular Project
4. Generating Components, Services, and Other Artifacts
5. Running the Development Server
6. Building the Application
7. Testing the Application
8. Deploying the Application
9. Common Angular CLI Commands

The Angular CLI is a command-line interface tool that helps developers to:

• Create new Angular applications.
• Generate components, services, modules, and other Angular artifacts.
• Run a development server with live reload.
• Build the application for production.
• Run unit tests and end-to-end tests.
• Deploy the application.

To install the Angular CLI, you need to have Node.js and npm (Node Package Manager) installed on your machine. You can install the Angular CLI globally using the following command:

To verify the installation, you can check the version of the Angular CLI:

Once the Angular CLI is installed, you can create a new Angular project using the ng new command:

This command will prompt you to choose some configuration options, such as:

• Whether to add Angular routing.
• Which stylesheet format to use (CSS, SCSS, SASS, LESS, etc.).

After selecting the options, the CLI will generate a new Angular project in a directory named my-angular-app.

The Angular CLI provides commands to generate various Angular artifacts. For example, to generate a new component, you can use the ng generate component command:

Similarly, you can generate services, modules, directives, pipes, and more:

To run the development server and serve your application, use the ng serve command:

By default, the application will be available at http://localhost:4200/. The development server supports live reload, so any changes you make to the code will automatically refresh the browser.

To build the application for production, use the ng build command:

This command will create an optimized build of your application in the dist/ directory. The --prod flag enables production optimizations, such as minification and Ahead-of-Time (AOT) compilation.

The Angular CLI provides commands to run unit tests and end-to-end tests. To run unit tests, use the ng test command:

To run end-to-end tests, use the ng e2e command:

These commands will execute the tests and provide a detailed report of the results.

To deploy your Angular application, you can use various hosting services, such as Firebase, Netlify, or GitHub Pages. The Angular CLI provides a command to deploy the application to Firebase:

This command will guide you through the process of setting up Firebase hosting and deploying your application.

Here is a table of some common Angular CLI commands and their descriptions:

The Angular CLI is an essential tool for Angular developers, providing a streamlined workflow for creating, building, testing, and deploying Angular applications. By mastering the Angular CLI, you can significantly improve your productivity and ensure that your applications follow best practices and standards. In the next module, we will explore advanced topics in Angular, including performance optimization and internationalization.