Recommended way of getting data from the server - angularjs

Question

What is the recommended way to connect to server data sources in AngularJS without using $resource.
The $resource has many limitations such as:
Not using proper futures
Not being flexible enough

Answer 1

There are cases when $resource may not be appropriate when talking to backend. This shows how to set up $resource like behavior without using resource.
angular.module('myApp').factory('Book', function($http) {
// Book is a class which we can use for retrieving and
// updating data on the server
var Book = function(data) {
angular.extend(this, data);
}
// a static method to retrieve Book by ID
Book.get = function(id) {
return $http.get('/Book/' + id).then(function(response) {
return new Book(response.data);
});
};
// an instance method to create a new Book
Book.prototype.create = function() {
var book = this;
return $http.post('/Book/', book).then(function(response) {
book.id = response.data.id;
return book;
});
}
return Book;
});
Then inside your controller you can:
var AppController = function(Book) {
// to create a Book
var book = new Book();
book.name = 'AngularJS in nutshell';
book.create();
// to retrieve a book
var bookPromise = Book.get(123);
bookPromise.then(function(b) {
book = b;
});
};

Answer 2

I recommend that you use $resource.
It may support (url override) in next version of Angularjs.
Then you will be able to code like this:
// need to register as a serviceName
$resource('/user/:userId', {userId:'#id'}, {
'customActionName': {
url:'/user/someURI'
method:'GET',
params: {
param1: '....',
param2: '....',
}
},
....
});
And return callbacks can be handled in ctrl scope like this.
// ctrl scope
serviceName.customActionName ({
paramName:'param',
...
},
function (resp) {
//handle return callback
},
function (error) {
//handler error callback
});
Probably you can handle code on higher abstraction level.