title: Angular ui-router: nested views vs multiple views
body: <p><a href="https://github.com/angular-ui/ui-router" rel="noreferrer">ui-router</a> is a great alternative to angular's standard router; it supports <a href="https://github.com/angular-ui/ui-router#nested-states--views" rel="noreferrer">nested states and views</a> and <a href="https://github.com/angular-ui/ui-router#multiple--named-views" rel="noreferrer">multiple views</a>.</p>
  
  <p>I am a little confused, though, by the difference between the two. It seems to me that multiple views can almost always be thinked and implemented as nested views of an "higher-order" component. For example, if we consider an app with a sidebar and a content box, we may model them as two "parallel" views or as making the sidebar the parent view and the content-pane its nested child view that depends on the selected sidebar item.</p>
  
  <p>The readme itself seems to suggest the division is not really clear-cut:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Pro Tip: While multiple parallel views are a powerful feature, you'll often be able to manage your interfaces more effectively by nesting your views, and pairing those views with nested states.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>When should I use multiple views and when nested views? Is there some criteria that can help you choose most of the time which is the correct way to model the states, nested vs multiple?</p>