Why Use Angular Material for Your App’s Forms?

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I’m assembling a cozy cabin in the woods. I’ve got a solid framework for the cabin already built — it’s sturdy and does the job. But now, I want it to have fancy windows that open with a single touch and a front door that locks automatically. I don’t want to craft these from scratch, so I go to the cabin supplies store and pick out pre-made components that fit right into my design.

This is exactly what I do when integrating third-party form libraries like Angular Material into my Angular app. My app is the framework of my cabin — it provides structure and handles the heavy lifting. Angular Material is like that cabin store; it offers pre-built, polished components like buttons, checkboxes, and form fields that I can drop in without starting from zero.

To make these fancy pieces work, I need to follow a couple of steps. First, I install the kit — like loading the new components onto my truck. In coding terms, that’s running a command like npm install @angular/material. Next, I need to read the instructions so everything fits snugly. In Angular, that means importing the specific Material modules I need, like MatInputModule for text boxes or MatSelectModule for dropdowns.

But just grabbing the parts isn’t enough. I also want my cabin to match its surroundings. So, I style these new components to blend with my app’s theme — configuring Angular Material’s theming system so everything feels cohesive.

Finally, I integrate the pieces into my framework. For example, I replace my plain-text inputs with Material’s <mat-form-field> and <mat-input> components. They drop right into place, but they also add extra features, like error messages and animations, that enhance the user experience.

So, just like assembling my dream cabin, using a library like Angular Material lets me enhance my app with sophisticated, pre-made components. I spend less time building from scratch and more time making everything fit seamlessly together. And the result? A user interface that’s as polished and inviting as that perfect little cabin in the woods.

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1. Installing Angular Material

First, I need to load the materials onto my truck, which in coding terms means installing the library:

npm install @angular/material @angular/cdk

2. Setting Up the Modules

Next, I add the materials to my toolkit. This means importing the Angular Material modules I need into my app:

// app.module.ts
import { MatInputModule } from '@angular/material/input';
import { MatFormFieldModule } from '@angular/material/form-field';
import { MatButtonModule } from '@angular/material/button';
import { MatSelectModule } from '@angular/material/select';
import { MatIconModule } from '@angular/material/icon';

@NgModule({
  declarations: [...],
  imports: [
    ...,
    MatInputModule,
    MatFormFieldModule,
    MatButtonModule,
    MatSelectModule,
    MatIconModule,
  ],
})
export class AppModule {}

This is like arranging all the new cabin parts on the workbench, ready to be installed.

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3. Themed Styling

Every cabin needs a cohesive look, so I configure Angular Material’s theming system. Angular Material uses Angular’s built-in theming capabilities, so I define a color palette in a SCSS file:

// styles.scss
@import '~@angular/material/theming';

@include mat-core();

$custom-primary: mat-palette($mat-indigo);
$custom-accent: mat-palette($mat-pink);

$custom-theme: mat-light-theme(
  (
    color: (
      primary: $custom-primary,
      accent: $custom-accent,
    ),
  )
);

@include angular-material-theme($custom-theme);

Now, my components look stylish and cohesive right out of the box.

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4. Using Angular Material Components

Now it’s time to install these components into my cabin — or app, in this case. Let’s start by creating a form with Angular Material components:

<!-- app.component.html -->
<mat-form-field appearance="fill">
  <mat-label>Enter your name</mat-label>
  <input matInput placeholder="Name">
</mat-form-field>

<mat-form-field appearance="fill">
  <mat-label>Choose your favorite fruit</mat-label>
  <mat-select>
    <mat-option value="apple">Apple</mat-option>
    <mat-option value="banana">Banana</mat-option>
    <mat-option value="cherry">Cherry</mat-option>
  </mat-select>
</mat-form-field>

<button mat-raised-button color="primary">Submit</button>

Here’s how the components work together:

• <mat-form-field> is the frame for my input and select components, giving them proper structure.
• <mat-input> and <mat-select> provide interactivity and style.
• The mat-raised-button creates a button that’s both functional and visually appealing.

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Key Takeaways

1. Effortless Integration: Angular Material allows us to add polished UI components to our Angular apps without reinventing the wheel.
2. Customization: With Angular Material’s theming capabilities, I can make my app’s look and feel unique.
3. Better User Experience: Using these pre-made components ensures consistency, accessibility, and responsiveness across devices.