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Examples showing the major concepts for routing in Polymer.

Download and un-zip polymer-router-demos.

A router is completely optional. You can load HTML files directly.

1. Open a terminal in the no-router directory
2. Start the express.js server with node server.js
3. Open http://localhost:8080/

The <app-router> adds data binding and can lazy-load content. It's similar to the Angular ui-router and Backbone's router.

1. Open a terminal in the app-router directory
2. Start the express.js server with node server.js
3. Open http://localhost:8080/

<flatiron-director> with <core-animated-pages> and a modified version of Polymer's music demo. This routes like a mobile app.

1. Open a terminal in the flatiron-director directory
2. Start the express.js server with node server.js
3. Open http://localhost:8080/

excess-router is a Polymer 1.0 compatible router. Implements express-style path patching, route transition lifecycle, and a JS routing library similar to page.js.

The choice comes down to complexity. If you don't need data binding you probably don't need a router.

Polymer's <core-animated-pages> extends <core-selector> so you use the <core-selector> attributes to choose a route. Routes can be integers or strings. They are smiple enough to store in a URL hash #. Two way data binding can auto update the hash when you use <flatiron-director autoHash>. This works well for websites that operate like a mobile app and you want a simple hash to store your <core-selector> state.

<app-router> lazy loads content, data binds path variables and query parameters, and uses pushState() or hashchange events. It handles more complex routes and is more like Angular's ui-router and Backbone's router.

You can also use a server-side router and template engine and only use custom elements for specific parts of the page.

You have a ton of options! Use the tool that best fits the job.

More ideas? Let me know @ErikRingsmuth!