Mastering Angular Material: A Comprehensive Guide to Installing and Using Material Design in Angular

Angular Material is a powerful UI component library that brings Google’s Material Design principles to Angular applications. It offers a collection of pre-built, reusable components like buttons, cards, dialogs, and data tables, enabling developers to create modern, responsive, and accessible user interfaces with minimal effort. By integrating Angular Material, you can ensure a consistent design, enhance user experience, and accelerate development. This blog provides a detailed, step-by-step guide to installing and using Angular Material in an Angular project, covering setup, core components, customization, and advanced techniques. Whether you’re building a dashboard, e-commerce platform, or enterprise application, this guide will help you leverage Angular Material effectively.

With Angular’s component-based architecture and Material Design’s focus on usability and aesthetics, Angular Material is a go-to choice for developers aiming to create polished applications. Let’s explore the process, from installation to advanced use cases, ensuring a thorough understanding of each step.

Why Choose Angular Material for Your Angular Project?

Angular Material is built specifically for Angular, offering seamless integration and a robust set of components that adhere to Material Design guidelines. Here are the key reasons to use Angular Material:

• Pre-Built Components: Angular Material provides a wide range of components, such as buttons, forms, navigation menus, and dialogs, reducing the need to build UI elements from scratch.
• Material Design Compliance: Components follow Google’s Material Design principles, ensuring a consistent, intuitive, and visually appealing user experience.
• Accessibility (a11y): Angular Material components are designed with accessibility in mind, supporting ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) standards for inclusive applications.
• Responsiveness: Components are optimized for various screen sizes, making it easy to create mobile-friendly interfaces.
• Customization: Angular Material supports theming and styling, allowing you to align components with your brand’s design system.
• Official Support: As an official Angular library, it’s well-documented and maintained, ensuring compatibility with Angular updates.

For example, using Angular Material’s data table component, you can quickly create a sortable, paginated table for displaying user data, saving hours of custom development. To learn more about accessibility in Angular, check out this guide on implementing accessibility in Angular apps.

Setting Up Angular Material in an Angular Application

To use Angular Material, you need to install the library, configure your project, and import the desired components. The Angular Material team provides a streamlined setup process via the Angular CLI. Below is a detailed guide to getting started.

Step 1: Create a New Angular Project (Optional)

If you don’t already have an Angular project, create one using the Angular CLI. Open your terminal and run:

ng new my-material-app

Follow the prompts to configure routing and stylesheet format (e.g., SCSS). Once the project is created, navigate to its directory:

cd my-material-app

Step 2: Install Angular Material and Dependencies

Angular Material relies on the Angular Component Dev Kit (CDK) and Angular Animations for some features. Install them along with Angular Material using the Angular CLI’s add command, which simplifies the setup:

ng add @angular/material

This command:

• Installs @angular/material, @angular/cdk, and @angular/animations.
• Prompts you to choose a prebuilt theme or create a custom one.
• Asks if you want to set up global typography styles and browser animations.
• Updates your package.json and app.module.ts with necessary dependencies.

For example, when prompted to choose a theme, you can select a prebuilt theme like Indigo/Pink or opt for a custom theme. Themes are CSS files that define colors and styles for Material components. If you choose animations, the command adds BrowserAnimationsModule to your app module, enabling features like dialog transitions.

If you prefer manual installation, run:

npm install @angular/material @angular/cdk @angular/animations

Then, import BrowserAnimationsModule in your app.module.ts:

import { NgModule } from '@angular/core';
import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { BrowserAnimationsModule } from '@angular/platform-browser/animations';
import { AppComponent } from './app.component';

@NgModule({
  declarations: [AppComponent],
  imports: [BrowserModule, BrowserAnimationsModule],
  bootstrap: [AppComponent],
})
export class AppModule {}

Step 3: Import Angular Material Components

Angular Material components are provided as individual NgModules, allowing you to import only what you need to keep your bundle size small. For example, to use a button and a card component, import their modules in your app.module.ts:

import { NgModule } from '@angular/core';
import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { BrowserAnimationsModule } from '@angular/platform-browser/animations';
import { MatButtonModule } from '@angular/material/button';
import { MatCardModule } from '@angular/material/card';
import { AppComponent } from './app.component';

@NgModule({
  declarations: [AppComponent],
  imports: [
    BrowserModule,
    BrowserAnimationsModule,
    MatButtonModule,
    MatCardModule,
  ],
  bootstrap: [AppComponent],
})
export class AppModule {}

You can now use <mat-button></mat-button> and <mat-card></mat-card> in your templates. For modularity, consider importing Material modules in feature modules rather than the root module, especially in large applications. To learn about feature modules, see this guide on creating feature modules.

Step 4: Add a Theme

Angular Material requires a theme to style its components. During ng add @angular/material, you can choose a prebuilt theme or set up a custom one. Prebuilt themes are added to your styles.scss (or equivalent):

@import '@angular/material/prebuilt-themes/indigo-pink.css';

For a custom theme, create a SCSS file (e.g., custom-theme.scss) and define your theme using Material’s theming API:

@use '@angular/material' as mat;

$my-primary: mat.define-palette(mat.$indigo-palette);
$my-accent: mat.define-palette(mat.$pink-palette);
$my-warn: mat.define-palette(mat.$red-palette);

$my-theme: mat.define-light-theme((
  color: (
    primary: $my-primary,
    accent: $my-accent,
    warn: $my-warn,
  ),
));

@include mat.all-component-themes($my-theme);

Include the custom theme in your styles.scss:

@import 'custom-theme';

Then, update angular.json to reference styles.scss if not already set. Custom themes allow you to align Material components with your brand’s colors. For advanced theming, explore creating custom themes.

Using Angular Material Components

With Angular Material set up, you can start using its components in your templates. Below are examples of common components and how to implement them.

Buttons

The <mat-button></mat-button> directive provides various button styles, such as raised, flat, and icon buttons. Here’s an example:

Primary Button
Accent Button

  favorite

To use icons, import MatIconModule:

import { MatIconModule } from '@angular/material/icon';

@NgModule({
  imports: [MatIconModule],
})
export class AppModule {}

You can enhance buttons with icons from libraries like Font Awesome. Learn how in this guide to adding Font Awesome to Angular.

Cards

The <mat-card></mat-card> component is ideal for displaying content like profiles or product summaries:

Product Name
    $19.99
  
  
    This is a high-quality product.
  
  
    Add to Cart

Import MatCardModule to use cards. Cards are versatile for dashboards, blogs, or e-commerce layouts.

Data Tables

The <mat-table></mat-table> component is perfect for displaying tabular data with features like sorting and pagination:

Name
    { { element.name }}
  
  
    Age
    { { element.age }}

In your component:

import { Component } from '@angular/core';
import { MatTableDataSource } from '@angular/material/table';
import { MatSort } from '@angular/material/sort';
import { MatPaginator } from '@angular/material/paginator';

@Component({
  selector: 'app-table',
  templateUrl: './table.component.html',
})
export class TableComponent {
  displayedColumns: string[] = ['name', 'age'];
  dataSource = new MatTableDataSource([
    { name: 'John', age: 30 },
    { name: 'Jane', age: 25 },
  ]);

  @ViewChild(MatSort) sort: MatSort;
  @ViewChild(MatPaginator) paginator: MatPaginator;

  ngAfterViewInit() {
    this.dataSource.sort = this.sort;
    this.dataSource.paginator = this.paginator;
  }
}

Import MatTableModule, MatSortModule, and MatPaginatorModule. This setup creates a sortable, paginated table, ideal for user management or inventory systems.

Customizing Angular Material Components

Angular Material’s flexibility allows you to customize components to match your application’s design.

Theming

Beyond the primary theme, you can create multiple themes or toggle between light and dark modes. For example, to implement dark mode:

$dark-theme: mat.define-dark-theme((
  color: (
    primary: $my-primary,
    accent: $my-accent,
    warn: $my-warn,
  ),
));

.dark-mode {
  @include mat.all-component-themes($dark-theme);
}

Toggle the theme in your component:

@Component({
  selector: 'app-theme-toggle',
  template: `Toggle Theme`,
})
export class ThemeToggleComponent {
  isDarkMode = false;

  constructor(private renderer: Renderer2) {}

  toggleTheme() {
    this.isDarkMode = !this.isDarkMode;
    const themeClass = this.isDarkMode ? 'dark-mode' : '';
    this.renderer.setAttribute(document.body, 'class', themeClass);
  }
}

Learn more about dark mode in this guide to implementing dark mode in Angular.

Styling Components

Use CSS to style Material components. For example, customize a button’s appearance:

.mat-raised-button {
  border-radius: 8px;
  padding: 0 24px;
}

To avoid specificity issues, use Angular’s component styles or ::ng-deep cautiously for global overrides.

Advanced Techniques

Lazy Loading Material Modules

In large applications, lazy load Material modules with feature modules to reduce initial bundle size:

@NgModule({
  imports: [
    MatButtonModule,
    RouterModule.forChild([
      { path: '', component: FeatureComponent },
    ]),
  ],
})
export class FeatureModule {}

See more on lazy loading in this guide to setting up lazy loading in Angular.

Animations

Leverage Angular Material’s animations for dialogs or tooltips. Ensure BrowserAnimationsModule is imported, and customize animations using Angular’s animation API. Explore this guide on creating animations in Angular.

Accessibility

Enhance accessibility by adding ARIA labels and testing with screen readers. For example:

Save

Learn more in this guide on using ARIA labels in Angular.

Common Pitfalls and Solutions

• Missing Animations: If animations don’t work, ensure BrowserAnimationsModule is imported. For performance, you can use NoopAnimationsModule to disable animations.
• Large Bundle Size: Import only the required Material modules and use lazy loading for feature modules.
• Theme Issues: If components lack styles, verify that the theme is included in styles.scss and referenced in angular.json.
• Version Compatibility: Ensure Angular Material matches your Angular version. Check the official documentation for compatibility.

FAQs

Can I use Angular Material with other UI libraries?

Yes, Angular Material can be combined with libraries like Font Awesome or Bootstrap. For example, integrate Font Awesome icons into Material buttons as shown in this guide.

How do I update Angular Material?

Run ng update @angular/material to update to the latest version. Check the Angular Material changelog for breaking changes.

What if I don’t want animations?

Import NoopAnimationsModule instead of BrowserAnimationsModule to disable animations, reducing bundle size.

How do I test Angular Material components?

Use Angular’s testing utilities with Jasmine or Cypress. Learn more in this guide on testing components with Jasmine.

Conclusion

Angular Material is a game-changer for building modern, responsive, and accessible Angular applications. By following this guide—installing the library, using core components, customizing themes, and applying advanced techniques—you can create polished UIs that enhance user experience. From buttons to data tables, Angular Material’s components save development time while ensuring consistency and accessibility.

Experiment with theming, animations, and lazy loading to tailor Angular Material to your project’s needs. Combine it with other libraries like Font Awesome or explore related Angular topics, such as lazy loading routes or optimizing performance, to take your skills further. With Angular Material, you’re equipped to build professional-grade applications that stand out.