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angular routerlink vs. href: understanding navigation and state management

navigating between different parts of an application is a fundamental task in web development. angular provides two primary ways to achieve this: `routerlink` and the standard html `href` attribute within `a` tags. while both might seem to do the same thing – take the user to another page – they function differently and have significant implications for your angular application's performance, user experience, and state management.

this comprehensive guide will delve into the differences between `routerlink` and `href`, exploring their respective advantages and disadvantages, and most importantly, demonstrate how using `href` incorrectly can lead to the loss of application state, with illustrative code examples.

*i. understanding `href`*

the `href` attribute is a standard html attribute used in `a` (anchor) tags. it specifies the url to which the link points. when a user clicks on an `a` tag with an `href`, the browser performs a *full page reload*.

*how `href` works:*

1. *click event:* the user clicks on the link.
2. *browser request:* the browser sends a new request to the server for the specified url.
3. *server response:* the server responds with the html, css, and javascript for the new page.
4. *page reload:* the browser reloads the entire page, executing all javascript code from scratch.

*example using `href`:*



this will cause the browser to navigate to `yourdomain.com/home`, requesting the resource from the server and reloading the entire application.

*ii. understanding `routerlink`*

`routerlink` is an angular directive provided by the `@angular/router` module. it's specifically designed to handle navigation within an angular application without triggering a full page reload. it leverages the angular router to manage the application's state and display the appropriate component based on the url.

*how `routerlink` works:*

1. **click event: ...

#Angular #RouterLink #StateManagement

Angular
routerlink
href
losing state
routing
navigation
single page application
component state
URL handling
Angular routing
user experience
state management
dynamic routing
link management
performance optimization