Route Guards in Angular

This lesson explains how to secure routes in Angular applications using route guards.

What are Route Guards?

Route guards control access to routes in Angular. They're useful for protecting sensitive or restricted routes.

Types of Guards

• CanActivate: Determines if a route can be activated.
• CanActivateChild: Guards child routes.
• CanDeactivate - Checks before leaving a route.
• Resolve - Pre-fetches data before activating route.

Creating a Guard

Create a guard using Angular CLI:

ng generate guard auth

Implementing canActivate()

The canActivate() method controls route access:

canActivate(): boolean {
  return true; // or false to block navigation
}

Using Guards in Routes

Add guards to routes in your routing module:

{ path: 'admin', component: AdminComponent, canActivate: [AuthGuard] }

CanDeactivate Guard

CanDeactivate prevents leaving a route if certain conditions aren't met, useful for forms:

canDeactivate(): boolean {
  return confirm('Do you really want to leave?');
}

Resolve Guard

The Resolve guard fetches data before a route is loaded:

resolve(route: ActivatedRouteSnapshot) {
  return this.dataService.getData(route.params.id);
}

Summary

You learned how to secure and enhance navigation in your Angular apps with route guards. Keep going!