$watch is triggered directly after init, why?

January 5, 2024 by Tarik

On first run both values (newValue and oldValue) are equal, so you may easily escape it by checking for equality:

$scope.$watch("data_copy", function(newValue, oldValue) {
  if(newValue === oldValue){
    return;
  }
  alert("$watch triggered!");
});

PLUNKER