I am creating a single page app (mobile/desktop) using AngularJS. Based on the limited knowledge I have of AngularJS, I think the routing for the apps/websites is based on urls and $location/$location.path directive is used. However, in mobile or desktop apps, there is no browser. So how does AngularJS routing work in this case if views need to be switched?
Thanks
If you are talking about an Angular application by itself, it will always need something to be interpreted by something. Angular is written in JavaScript which means it will have to be interpreted by something which understands JavaScript. I am using the word interpreted instead of compiled, because JavaScript is not a compiled language.
But then how does something that interprets JavaScript display it on my screen you ask? For this you'll need a bit of background information.
The DOM
This is where we got to the Document Object Model DOM. From W3c:
The Document Object Model is a platform- and language-neutral interface that will allow programs and scripts to dynamically access and update the content, structure and style of documents. The document can be further processed and the results of that processing can be incorporated back into the presented page. This is an overview of DOM-related materials here at W3C and around the web.
To dumb the quote above down:
you have a document (web page) which is being displayed and the DOM allows you to change this document which is being displayed.
JavaScript Engine
The link between JavaScript and the DOM is provided by an Engine. Every browser uses a JavaScript Engine. For example Chrome uses the V8 JavaScript engine. From an introduction of V8:
JavaScript is most commonly used for client-side scripting in a browser, being used to manipulate Document Object Model (DOM) objects for example. The DOM is not, however, typically provided by the JavaScript engine but instead by a browser. The same is true of V8—Google Chrome provides the DOM. V8 does however provide all the data types, operators, objects and functions specified in the ECMA standard.
How does this translate to your question?
Everything that wants to display a JavaScript application, needs to have a JavaScript Engine and a DOM. This could be a browser like Chrome, but could also be any other application.
A simple explanation of what a router does, is change the DOM to display different "documents". So plainly said: any application, be it a mobile or desktop application, which has a DOM understands how to use Angular's routing system.