include ../_util-fns :marked # Once Upon a Time Every story starts somewhere. Our story starts where the [QuickStart](../quickstart.html) ends. [Run the live example for part 1](/resources/live-examples/toh-1/ts/plnkr.html) Follow the "QuickStart" steps. They provide the prerequisites, the folder structure, and the core files for our Tour of Heroes. Copy the "QuickStart" code to a new folder and rename the folder `angular2-tour-of-heroes`. You can also "QuickStart" from this [repository](https://github.com/IdeaBlade/angular2-quickstart). We should have the following structure: .filetree .file angular2-tour-of-heroes .children .file app .children .file app.component.ts .file main.ts .file node_modules ... .file typings ... .file index.html .file package.json .file tsconfig.json .file typings.json :marked ## Keep the app transpiling and running We want to start the TypeScript compiler, have it watch for changes, and start our server. We'll do this by typing code-example(format="" language="bash"). npm start :marked This command runs the compiler in watch mode, starts the server, launches the app in a browser, and keeps the app running while we continue to build the Tour of Heroes. .l-main-section :marked ## Show our Hero We want to display Hero data in our app Let's add two properties to our `AppComponent`, a `title` property for the application name and a `hero` property for a hero named "Windstorm". +makeExample('toh-1/ts-snippets/app.component.snippets.pt1.ts', 'app-component-1', 'app.component.ts (AppComponent class)')(format=".") :marked Now we update the template in the `@Component` decoration with data bindings to these new properties. +makeExample('toh-1/ts-snippets/app.component.snippets.pt1.ts', 'show-hero') :marked The browser should refresh and display our title and hero. The double curly braces tell our app to read the `title` and `hero` properties from the component and render them. This is the "interpolation" form of one-way data binding. .l-sub-section :marked Learn more about interpolation in the [Displaying Data chapter](../guide/displaying-data.html). :marked ### Hero object At the moment, our hero is just a name. Our hero needs more properties. Let's convert the `hero` from a literal string to an interface. Create a `Hero` interface with `id` and `name` properties. For now put this near the top of the `app.component.ts` file, just below the import statement. +makeExample('toh-1/ts/app/app.component.ts', 'hero-interface-1', 'app.component.ts (Hero interface)')(format=".") .l-sub-section :marked #### Interface or Class? Why a `Hero` interface and not a `Hero` class? We want a strongly typed `Hero`. We get strong typing with either option. Our choice depends on how we intend to use the `Hero`. If we need a `Hero` that goes beyond simple properties, a `Hero` with logic and behavior, we must define a class. If we only need type checking, the interface is sufficient and lighter weight. Lighter weight? Transpiling a class to JavaScript produces code. Transpiling an interface produces — nothing. If the class does nothing (and there is nothing for a `Hero` class to do right now), we prefer an interface. :marked Now that we have a `Hero` interface, let’s refactor our component’s `hero` property to be of type `Hero`. Then initialize it with an id of `1` and the name, "Windstorm". +makeExample('toh-1/ts-snippets/app.component.snippets.pt1.ts', 'hero-property-1', 'app.component.ts (Hero property)')(format=".") :marked Because we changed the hero from a string to an object, we update the binding in the template to refer to the hero’s `name` property. +makeExample('toh-1/ts-snippets/app.component.snippets.pt1.ts', 'show-hero-2') :marked The browser refreshes and continues to display our hero’s name. ### Adding more HTML Displaying a name is good, but we want to see all of our hero’s properties. We’ll add a `
` for our hero’s `id` property and another `
` for our hero’s `name`. +makeExample('toh-1/ts-snippets/app.component.snippets.pt1.ts', 'show-hero-properties') :marked Uh oh, our template string is getting long. We better take care of that to avoid the risk of making a typo in the template. ### Multi-line template strings We could make a more readable template with string concatenation but that gets ugly fast, it is harder to read, and it is easy to make a spelling error. Instead, let’s take advantage of the template strings feature in ES2015 and TypeScript to maintain our sanity. Change the quotes around the template to back-ticks and put the `

`, `

` and `
` elements on their own lines. +makeExample('toh-1/ts-snippets/app.component.snippets.pt1.ts', 'multi-line-strings', 'app.component.ts (AppComponent\'s template)') .callout.is-important header A back-tick is not a single quote :marked **Be careful!** A back-tick (`) looks a lot like a single quote ('). It's actually a completely different character. Back-ticks can do more than demarcate a string. Here we use them in a limited way to spread the template over multiple lines. Everything between the back-ticks at the beginning and end of the template is part of a single template string. .l-main-section :marked ## Editing Our Hero We want to be able to edit the hero name in a textbox. Refactor the hero name `