Difference between $state.transitionTo() and $state.go() in Angular ui-router

Are you referring to the AngularUI Router? If so, the wiki specifies the differences:

$state.go(to [, toParams] [, options]) Returns a Promise representing the state of the transition. Convenience method for transitioning to a new state. $state.go calls $state.transitionTo internally but automatically sets options to { location: true, inherit: true, relative: $state.$current, notify: true }. This allows you to easily use an absolute or relative to path and specify only the parameters you'd like to update (while letting unspecified parameters inherit from the current state). $state.transitionTo(to, toParams [, options]) Returns a Promise representing the state of the transition. Low-level method for transitioning to a new state. $state.go() uses transitionTo internally. $state.go() is recommended in most situations.

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$state.transitionTo transite to a new state. In most cases, you don't have to use it, you may prefer $state.go.

It takes some parameters in an options object:

location: If true will update the url in the location bar, if false will not. If string "replace", will update url and also replace last history record.

inherit: If true will inherit url parameters from current url.

relative (stateObject, default null): When transitioning with relative path (e.g '^'), defines which state to be relative from.

notify: If true, will broadcast $stateChangeStart and $stateChangeSuccess events.

reload: If true will force transition even if the state or params have not changed, aka a reload of the same state.

$state.go is a sort of shortcut that call $state.transitionTo with default options:

location: true

inherit: true

relative: $state.$current

notify: true

reload: false

It is more convenient as the synthax is simpler. You can call it only with a state name.

$state.go('home');

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