App architecture: directives vs. controllers

Question

I have a big app, which contains many layouts and subviews. Looks like (simplified): http://plnkr.co/edit/x4kleCCQH5Hsy6dcjgXe?p=preview

So, I have many directives and services. And only 2-4 simple controllers (10 - 20 lines of code). All logic stored into big directives, which contain many small directives. Am I wrong?

Answer 1

The way I'm approaching it is.

• Directives contain view logic, not business logic. This is also where DOM-messing about happens if needed.

• Controllers are fairly thin, have minimal business logic.

• Angular Services are where most of the heavy lifting is done.

If you have logic that needs to be re-used by multiple areas/controllers or is stateful - it's probably a better fit to put into a Service than a Directive.

Depending on your app/architecture - you could be posting to a server, and having the heavy BL happen on the server side.

The Angular docs have a nice bit on Using Directives Correctly that has a few pointers.