What is the difference between ng-if and ng-show/ng-hide

Question

I'm trying to understand the difference between ng-if and ng-show/ng-hide, but they look the same to me.

Is there a difference that I should keep in mind choosing to use one or the other?

Answer 1

ngIf

The ngIf directive removes or recreates a portion of the DOM tree based on an expression. If the expression assigned to ngIf evaluates to a false value then the element is removed from the DOM, otherwise a clone of the element is reinserted into the DOM.

<!-- when $scope.myValue is truthy (element is restored) -->
<div ng-if="1"></div>

<!-- when $scope.myValue is falsy (element is removed) -->
<div ng-if="0"></div>

When an element is removed using ngIf its scope is destroyed and a new scope is created when the element is restored. The scope created within ngIf inherits from its parent scope using prototypal inheritance.

If ngModel is used within ngIf to bind to a JavaScript primitive defined in the parent scope, any modifications made to the variable within the child scope will not affect the value in the parent scope, e.g.

<input type="text" ng-model="data">
<div ng-if="true">
    <input type="text" ng-model="data">
</div>        

To get around this situation and update the model in the parent scope from inside the child scope, use an object:

<input type="text" ng-model="data.input">
<div ng-if="true">
    <input type="text" ng-model="data.input">
</div>

Or, $parent variable to reference the parent scope object:

<input type="text" ng-model="data">
<div ng-if="true">
    <input type="text" ng-model="$parent.data">
</div>

ngShow

The ngShow directive shows or hides the given HTML element based on the expression provided to the ngShow attribute. The element is shown or hidden by removing or adding the ng-hide CSS class onto the element. The .ng-hide CSS class is predefined in AngularJS and sets the display style to none (using an !important flag).

<!-- when $scope.myValue is truthy (element is visible) -->
<div ng-show="1"></div>

<!-- when $scope.myValue is falsy (element is hidden) -->
<div ng-show="0" class="ng-hide"></div>

When the ngShow expression evaluates to false then the ng-hide CSS class is added to the class attribute on the element causing it to become hidden. When true, the ng-hide CSS class is removed from the element causing the element not to appear hidden.