Developing applications with Angular can be a rewarding yet complex experience. To elevate your development game, it's essential to adhere to best practices that enhance both performance and maintainability. One critical practice is to structure your application efficiently by following Angular's modular design. By breaking your app into reusable modules, you can streamline code management and improve readability. Additionally, make sure to leverage Angular's dependency injection system for better service management, allowing for easier testing and maintenance.

Another key aspect of Angular development is optimizing performance. Utilizing the OnPush change detection strategy can significantly enhance your app's speed by reducing the number of checks Angular performs when data changes. Furthermore, always keep an eye on component lifecycle hooks and only execute necessary logic within them. Implement lazy loading for feature modules to minimize initial loading time, allowing users to engage with your content faster. Following these best practices will not only help you build robust applications but also keep your codebase clean and efficient.

Optimizing your Angular application for performance is crucial to ensure a smooth user experience. Start by identifying performance bottlenecks through tools like the Angular DevTools or Chrome DevTools. These tools allow you to analyze the performance of your components and identify those that may be causing slow renders. Implementing OnPush change detection strategy can significantly reduce the number of checks Angular performs, thus enhancing the rendering speed. Additionally, consider using the trackBy feature in ngFor directives to help Angular identify which items have changed, helping to minimize DOM manipulations.

Another effective strategy for enhancing the performance of your Angular application is to leverage Lazy Loading. By dividing your application into modules that load only when necessary, you can drastically cut down the initial loading time. Furthermore, utilizing AOT (Ahead-of-Time) compilation allows your app to compile at build time instead of runtime, which can lead to faster rendering. Lastly, make sure to optimize your images and assets to reduce load times, and consider employing HTTP caching strategies for data fetching to improve overall efficiency.

When developing applications with Angular, one of the common pitfalls that developers encounter is improper state management. Neglecting to use services for state handling can lead to unpredictable behavior and bloated components. To avoid this, it is crucial to implement a state management solution such as NgRx or Akita, which provides a centralized store for managing application state. This approach not only simplifies debugging but also enhances maintainability, making your code cleaner and more extensible.

Another significant issue is the failure to leverage Angular's powerful dependency injection system. Often, developers create multiple instances of a service instead of sharing a single instance throughout the application. This can lead to increased memory usage and inconsistent application behavior. To prevent this, ensure that services are provided at the root level or in the appropriate module scope, thus allowing Angular to manage the lifecycle of these services efficiently and minimize potential conflicts.