The proposed ES dynamic import() is now supported by the Angular CLI and the
larger toolchain. This renders the `loadChildren: string` API largely
redundant, as import() is far more natural, is less error-prone, and is
standards compliant. This commit deprecates the `string` form of
`loadChildren` in favor of dynamic import().
DEPRECATION:
When defining lazy-loaded route, Angular previously offered two options for
configuring the module to be loaded, both via the `loadChildren` parameter
of the route. Most Angular developers are familiar withthe `string` form of
this API. For example, the following route definition configures Angular to
load a `LazyModule` NgModule from `lazy-route/lazy.module.ts`:
```
[{
path: 'lazy',
loadChildren: 'lazy-route/lazy.module#LazyModule',
}]
```
This "magic string" configuration was previously necessary as there was
no dynamic module loading standard on the web. This has changed with the
pending standardization of dynamic `import()` expressions, which are now
supported in the Angular CLI and in web tooling in general. `import()`
offers a more natural and robust solution to dynamic module loading. The
above example can be rewritten to use dynamic `import()`:
```
[{
path: 'lazy',
loadChildren: () => import('./lazy-route/lazy.module').then(mod => mod.LazyModule),
}]
```
This form of lazy loading offers significant advantages in terms of:
* type checking via TypeScript
* simplicity of generated code
* future potential to run natively in supporting browsers
(see: [caniuse: dynamic import()](https://caniuse.com/#feat=es6-module-dynamic-import))
As a result, Angular is deprecating the `loadChildren: string` syntax in
favor of ES dynamic `import()`. An automatic migration will run during
`ng upgrade` to convert your existing Angular code to the new syntax.
PR Close#30073
c61df39323