angular/angular.js — pull request #1889 by lrlopez (2013-01-26 19:25:19+00:00)
Title: feat($compile): '=' binding can now be optional

If you bind using '=' to a non-existant parent property, the compiler
will throw a NON_ASSIGNABLE_MODEL_EXPRESSION exception, which is right
because the model doesn't exist.

This enhancement allow to specify that a binding is optional so it
won't complain if the parent property is not defined. In order to mantain
backward compability, the new behaviour must be specified using '=?' instead
of '='. The local property will be undefined is these cases.

Closes #909
Closes #1435