What are the differences between Dependency Injection and Service Locator in Angular?

What are the differences between Dependency Injection and Service Locator in Angular?

Dependency Injection (DI) allows a class to receive its dependencies from an external source, promoting loose coupling. In contrast, the Service Locator pattern provides a central registry where services can be retrieved, which can lead to tighter coupling.

Can you give me an example of how Dependency Injection is implemented in Angular?

Sure! In Angular, you can use the @Injectable() decorator to define a service, and then inject it into a component's constructor like this: constructor(private myService: MyService) {}.

What are the advantages of using Dependency Injection over Service Locator?

DI promotes better testability and maintainability, as dependencies are explicit and can be easily mocked. Service Locator can obscure dependencies, making testing harder.

Are there any scenarios where Service Locator might be preferred?

Yes, Service Locator can be useful in legacy systems or when you need to manage a large number of services dynamically, but it often comes with trade-offs in terms of code clarity.