Difference between this and scope in the controller

Question

I'm new to angularjs. What is the difference if You assign function to $scope or this keywords in the controller? Thank You.

Example (scope):

.controller('TestCtrl', ['$scope', function ($scope) {
    $scope.testFunc = function () {
    };
}]);

Example (this)

.controller('TestCtrl', [function () {
    var app = this;
    app.testFunc = function () {
    };
}]);

Answer 1

$scope is a core concept of angular framework and dual data-binding functionnalities. Its for example, designed to share its content with :

• templates
• directives
• etc

In a template for example, you'll need to bind a function to the scope to access it. You'll not be able to call a function binded on this directly.

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Edit: Thank to BKM post that pointed out that this behavior is possible with the "controller as" syntax which binds your template directly to the controller. But it's up to you to decide if you want to let access all objects/variables of your controller in your template instead of having a dedicated viewModel (scope). For pros and cons, see : https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/angular/84selECbp1I

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It's an important concept of angular that you need to understand.

See :

• http://docs.angularjs.org/guide/scope for an introduction
• https://github.com/angular/angular.js/wiki/Understanding-Scopes for more technical information about scopes

this keywork refers only the the javascript object refering to your controller, nothing more.