Implementing Materialize CSS in Angular 8: A Step-by-Step Guide

Materialize CSS is a modern responsive front-end framework that simplifies the process of building stunning user interfaces. This guide will walk you through the steps to incorporate Materialize CSS into your Angular 8 application, including the necessary installations, modifications to your project files, and a brief overview of getting started.

Overview and Importance of Materialize CSS

Materialize CSS is known for its clean and minimalistic design philosophy, making it an excellent choice for developers looking to create visually appealing web applications. It is particularly beneficial for those working with Angular, as it offers a simple and intuitive way to integrate a wide range of UI components without diving deep into complex CSS and JavaScript.

Prerequisites

Before diving into the process of integrating Materialize CSS into your Angular 8 project, ensure that you have the following set up:

Angular 8 Above: Your Angular environment should be updated to the latest version or at least Angular 8. Node.js npm: Make sure Node.js and npm are installed on your computer. A Text Editor or IDE: Optional but recommended for modifying project files.

Step-by-Step Guide to Implementing Materialize CSS

Installing Materialize CSS and jQuery

To install Materialize CSS and jQuery, use the following command in your terminal:

npm i materialize-css jquery --S

Here, npm is the package manager for Node.js, and materialize-css and jquery are the names of the libraries you are installing. The --S flag stands for save, which saves the dependencies to your package.json file, making them available to future developers working on the project.

Modifying Project Files

Next, you need to modify your Angular project files to include Materialize CSS. Follow these steps:

Open your angular.json file, which is located in the root directory of your Angular project.

Locate the architect section and then the build section within it.

Inside the build section, there are options where you will find styles and scripts. Add the following lines to include Materialize CSS and jQuery:

"?xml version'1.0' encoding'utf-8'?""?xml-stylesheet type"text/xsl" href"Index XML Stylesheet.xsl"?""?xml-stylesheet type"text/xsl" href"Index HTML Entities.xsl"?""?xml-stylesheet type"text/xsl" href"Index CDATA Entity Encode xsl"?"

styles should now look like:

"styles": ["./styles.css", node_modules/materialize-css/dist/css/materialize.min.css]

scripts should be:

"scripts": [ npm run build:materialize, node_modules/materialize-css/dist/js/materialize.min.js, node_modules/jquery/dist/jquery.min.js]

Adding these lines ensures that Materialize CSS and jQuery will be linked to your application.

Testing and Validation

After modifying the project files, you need to restart your server to ensure that all changes are reflected. Once the server is running, you should be able to see the Materialize CSS components in action.

ng serve

You can now start using Materialize CSS components in your Angular application. To confirm that Materialize CSS is working correctly, you can add a simple card or button to check the styling and functionality.

Conclusion

Integrating Materialize CSS into your Angular 8 project is a straightforward process that involves installing the necessary libraries and modifying your project files. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can successfully add Materialize CSS to your Angular application, enhancing its visual appeal and user experience. Whether you are building a simple website or a complex web application, incorporating Materialize CSS can significantly improve the overall look and feel of your project.

If you have any questions or run into any issues during the integration process, feel free to refer to the official Materialize CSS documentation or seek help from the Angular community forums.