diff --git a/packages/core/src/render3/component.ts b/packages/core/src/render3/component.ts
index fdb25d51965919..6a43cb3917ccea 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/render3/component.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/render3/component.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import {NG_HOST_SYMBOL, createError, createLView, createTView, directiveCreate,
 import {ComponentDef, ComponentType} from './interfaces/definition';
 import {LElementNode} from './interfaces/node';
 import {RElement, Renderer3, RendererFactory3, domRendererFactory3} from './interfaces/renderer';
+import {RootContext} from './interfaces/view';
 import {notImplemented, stringify} from './util';
 
 
@@ -43,6 +44,19 @@ export interface CreateComponentOptions {
    * Example: PublicFeature is a function that makes the component public to the DI system.
    */
   features?: (<T>(component: T, componentDef: ComponentDef<T>) => void)[];
+
+  /**
+   * A function which is used to schedule change detection work in the future.
+   *
+   * When marking components as dirty, it is necessary to schedule the work of
+   * change detection in the future. This is done to coalesce multiple
+   * {@link markDirty} calls into a single changed detection processing.
+   *
+   * The default value of the scheduler is the `requestAnimationFrame` function.
+   *
+   * It is also useful to override this function for testing purposes.
+   */
+  scheduler?: (work: () => void) => void;
 }
 
 
@@ -155,11 +169,22 @@ export const NULL_INJECTOR: Injector = {
   }
 };
 
+/**
+ * A permanent marker promise which signifies that the current CD tree is
+ * clean.
+ */
+const CLEAN_PROMISE = Promise.resolve(null);
 
 /**
  * Bootstraps a Component into an existing host element and returns an instance
  * of the component.
  *
+ * Use this function to bootstrap a component into the DOM tree. Each invocation
+ * of this function will create a separate tree of components, injectors and
+ * change detection cycles and lifetimes. To dynamically insert a new component
+ * into an existing tree such that it shares the same injection, change detection
+ * and object lifetime, use {@link ViewContainer#createComponent}.
+ *
  * @param componentType Component to bootstrap
  * @param options Optional parameters which control bootstrapping
  */
@@ -170,15 +195,23 @@ export function renderComponent<T>(
   if (componentDef.type != componentType) componentDef.type = componentType;
   let component: T;
   const hostNode = locateHostElement(rendererFactory, opts.host || componentDef.tag);
+  const rootContext: RootContext = {
+    // Incomplete initialization due to circular reference.
+    component: null !,
+    scheduler: opts.scheduler || requestAnimationFrame,
+    clean: CLEAN_PROMISE,
+  };
   const oldView = enterView(
       createLView(
-          -1, rendererFactory.createRenderer(hostNode, componentDef.rendererType), createTView()),
+          -1, rendererFactory.createRenderer(hostNode, componentDef.rendererType), createTView(),
+          null, rootContext),
       null !);
   try {
     // Create element node at index 0 in data array
     hostElement(hostNode, componentDef);
     // Create directive instance with n() and store at index 1 in data array (el is 0)
-    component = getDirectiveInstance(directiveCreate(1, componentDef.n(), componentDef));
+    component = rootContext.component =
+        getDirectiveInstance(directiveCreate(1, componentDef.n(), componentDef));
   } finally {
     leaveView(oldView);
   }
@@ -188,27 +221,120 @@ export function renderComponent<T>(
   return component;
 }
 
-export function detectChanges<T>(component: T) {
-  ngDevMode && assertNotNull(component, 'detectChanges should be called with a component');
-  const hostNode = (component as any)[NG_HOST_SYMBOL] as LElementNode;
-  if (ngDevMode && !hostNode) {
-    createError('Not a directive instance', component);
-  }
+/**
+ * Synchronously perform change detection on a component (and possibly its sub-components).
+ *
+ * This function triggers change detection in a synchronous way on a component. There should
+ * be very little reason to call this function directly since a preferred way to do change
+ * detection is to {@link markDirty} the component and wait for the scheduler to call this method
+ * at some future point in time. This is because a single user action often results in many
+ * components being invalidated and calling change detection on each component synchronously
+ * would be inefficient. It is better to wait until all components are marked as dirty and
+ * then perform single change detection across all of the components
+ *
+ * @param component The component which the change detection should be performed on.
+ */
+export function detectChanges<T>(component: T): void {
+  const hostNode = _getComponentHostLElementNode(component);
   ngDevMode && assertNotNull(hostNode.data, 'Component host node should be attached to an LView');
   renderComponentOrTemplate(hostNode, hostNode.view, component);
-  isDirty = false;
 }
 
-let isDirty = false;
-export function markDirty<T>(
-    component: T, scheduler: (fn: () => void) => void = requestAnimationFrame) {
-  ngDevMode && assertNotNull(component, 'markDirty should be called with a component');
-  if (!isDirty) {
-    isDirty = true;
-    scheduler(() => detectChanges(component));
+/**
+ * Mark the component as dirty (needing change detection).
+ *
+ * Marking a component dirty will schedule a change detection on this
+ * component at some point in the future. Marking an already dirty
+ * component as dirty is a noop. Only one outstanding change detection
+ * can be scheduled per component tree. (Two components bootstrapped with
+ * separate `renderComponent` will have separate schedulers)
+ *
+ * When the root component is bootstrapped with `renderComponent` a scheduler
+ * can be provided.
+ *
+ * @param component Component to mark as dirty.
+ */
+export function markDirty<T>(component: T) {
+  const rootContext = getRootContext(component);
+  if (rootContext.clean == CLEAN_PROMISE) {
+    let res: null|((val: null) => void);
+    rootContext.clean = new Promise<null>((r) => res = r);
+    rootContext.scheduler(() => {
+      detectChanges(rootContext.component);
+      res !(null);
+      rootContext.clean = CLEAN_PROMISE;
+    });
   }
 }
 
-export function getHostElement<T>(component: T): RElement {
-  return ((component as any)[NG_HOST_SYMBOL] as LElementNode).native;
+/**
+ * Retrieve the root component of any component by walking the parent `LView` until
+ * reaching the root `LView`.
+ *
+ * @param component any component
+ */
+function getRootContext(component: any): RootContext {
+  ngDevMode && assertNotNull(component, 'component');
+  const lElementNode = _getComponentHostLElementNode(component);
+  let lView = lElementNode.view;
+  while (lView.parent) {
+    lView = lView.parent;
+  }
+  const rootContext = lView.context as RootContext;
+  ngDevMode && assertNotNull(rootContext, 'rootContext');
+  return rootContext;
+}
+
+function _getComponentHostLElementNode<T>(component: T): LElementNode {
+  ngDevMode && assertNotNull(component, 'expecting component got null');
+  const lElementNode = (component as any)[NG_HOST_SYMBOL] as LElementNode;
+  ngDevMode && assertNotNull(component, 'object is not a component');
+  return lElementNode;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Retrieve the host element of the component.
+ *
+ * Use this function to retrieve the host element of the component. The host
+ * element is the element which the component is associated with.
+ *
+ * @param component Component for which the host element should be retrieved.
+ */
+export function getHostElement<T>(component: T): HTMLElement {
+  return _getComponentHostLElementNode(component).native as any;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Retrieves the rendered text for a given component.
+ *
+ * This function retrieves the host element of a component and
+ * and then returns the `textContent` for that element. This implies
+ * that the text returned will include re-projected content of
+ * the component as well.
+ *
+ * @param component The component to return the content text for.
+ */
+export function getRenderedText(component: any): string {
+  const hostElement = getHostElement(component);
+  return hostElement.textContent || '';
+}
+
+/**
+ * Wait on component until it is rendered.
+ *
+ * This function returns a `Promise` which is resolved when the component's
+ * change detection is executed. This is determined by finding the scheduler
+ * associated with the `component`'s render tree and waiting until the scheduler
+ * flushes. If nothing is scheduled, the function returns a resolved promise.
+ *
+ * Example:
+ * ```
+ * await whenRendered(myComponent);
+ * ```
+ *
+ * @param component Component to wait upon
+ * @returns Promise which resolves when the component is rendered.
+ */
+export function whenRendered(component: any): Promise<null> {
+  return getRootContext(component).clean;
 }
diff --git a/packages/core/src/render3/index.ts b/packages/core/src/render3/index.ts
index 69861de784f809..670c2da6109a68 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/render3/index.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/render3/index.ts
@@ -6,12 +6,14 @@
  * found in the LICENSE file at https://angular.io/license
  */
 
-import {createComponentRef, detectChanges, getHostElement, markDirty, renderComponent} from './component';
+import {createComponentRef, detectChanges, getHostElement, getRenderedText, markDirty, renderComponent, whenRendered} from './component';
 import {NgOnChangesFeature, PublicFeature, defineComponent, defineDirective, definePipe} from './definition';
 import {InjectFlags} from './di';
 import {ComponentDef, ComponentTemplate, ComponentType, DirectiveDef, DirectiveDefFlags, DirectiveType} from './interfaces/definition';
 
 export {InjectFlags, QUERY_READ_CONTAINER_REF, QUERY_READ_ELEMENT_REF, QUERY_READ_FROM_NODE, QUERY_READ_TEMPLATE_REF, inject, injectElementRef, injectTemplateRef, injectViewContainerRef} from './di';
+export {CssSelector} from './interfaces/projection';
+
 
 // Naming scheme:
 // - Capital letters are for creating things: T(Text), E(Element), D(Directive), V(View),
@@ -106,6 +108,11 @@ export {
   defineComponent,
   defineDirective,
   definePipe,
+  detectChanges,
+  createComponentRef,
+  getHostElement,
+  getRenderedText,
+  markDirty,
+  renderComponent,
+  whenRendered,
 };
-export {createComponentRef, detectChanges, getHostElement, markDirty, renderComponent};
-export {CssSelector} from './interfaces/projection';
diff --git a/packages/core/src/render3/instructions.ts b/packages/core/src/render3/instructions.ts
index 0865bc6e2c7048..819d200f2b892b 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/render3/instructions.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/render3/instructions.ts
@@ -70,10 +70,15 @@ let isParent: boolean;
  */
 let tData: TData;
 
-/** State of the current view being processed. */
-let currentView: LView;
-// The initialization has to be after the `let`, otherwise `createLView` can't see `let`.
-currentView = createLView(null !, null !, createTView());
+/**
+ * State of the current view being processed.
+ *
+ * NOTE: we cheat here and initialize it to `null` even thought the type does not
+ * contain `null`. This is because we expect this value to be not `null` as soon
+ * as we enter the view. Declaring the type as `null` would require us to place `!`
+ * in most instructions since they all assume that `currentView` is defined.
+ */
+let currentView: LView = null !;
 
 let currentQueries: LQueries|null;
 
@@ -131,13 +136,13 @@ const enum BindingDirection {
  */
 export function enterView(newView: LView, host: LElementNode | LViewNode | null): LView {
   const oldView = currentView;
-  data = newView.data;
-  bindingIndex = newView.bindingStartIndex || 0;
-  tData = newView.tView.data;
-  creationMode = newView.creationMode;
+  data = newView && newView.data;
+  bindingIndex = newView && newView.bindingStartIndex || 0;
+  tData = newView && newView.tView.data;
+  creationMode = newView && newView.creationMode;
 
-  cleanup = newView.cleanup;
-  renderer = newView.renderer;
+  cleanup = newView && newView.cleanup;
+  renderer = newView && newView.renderer;
 
   if (host != null) {
     previousOrParentNode = host;
@@ -145,7 +150,7 @@ export function enterView(newView: LView, host: LElementNode | LViewNode | null)
   }
 
   currentView = newView;
-  currentQueries = newView.queries;
+  currentQueries = newView && newView.queries;
 
   return oldView !;
 }
@@ -165,8 +170,8 @@ export function leaveView(newView: LView): void {
 }
 
 export function createLView(
-    viewId: number, renderer: Renderer3, tView: TView,
-    template: ComponentTemplate<any>| null = null, context: any | null = null): LView {
+    viewId: number, renderer: Renderer3, tView: TView, template: ComponentTemplate<any>| null,
+    context: any | null): LView {
   const newView = {
     parent: currentView,
     id: viewId,    // -1 for component views
@@ -300,7 +305,8 @@ export function renderTemplate<T>(
     host = createLNode(
         null, LNodeFlags.Element, hostNode,
         createLView(
-            -1, providedRendererFactory.createRenderer(null, null), getOrCreateTView(template)));
+            -1, providedRendererFactory.createRenderer(null, null), getOrCreateTView(template),
+            null, null));
   }
   const hostView = host.data !;
   ngDevMode && assertNotNull(hostView, 'Host node should have an LView defined in host.data.');
@@ -406,7 +412,8 @@ export function elementStart(
       if (isHostElement) {
         const tView = getOrCreateTView(hostComponentDef !.template);
         componentView = addToViewTree(createLView(
-            -1, rendererFactory.createRenderer(native, hostComponentDef !.rendererType), tView));
+            -1, rendererFactory.createRenderer(native, hostComponentDef !.rendererType), tView,
+            null, null));
       }
 
       // Only component views should be added to the view tree directly. Embedded views are
@@ -556,7 +563,8 @@ export function locateHostElement(
 export function hostElement(rNode: RElement | null, def: ComponentDef<any>) {
   resetApplicationState();
   createLNode(
-      0, LNodeFlags.Element, rNode, createLView(-1, renderer, getOrCreateTView(def.template)));
+      0, LNodeFlags.Element, rNode,
+      createLView(-1, renderer, getOrCreateTView(def.template), null, null));
 }
 
 
@@ -1114,8 +1122,8 @@ export function embeddedViewStart(viewBlockId: number): boolean {
     enterView((existingView as LViewNode).data, previousOrParentNode as LViewNode);
   } else {
     // When we create a new LView, we always reset the state of the instructions.
-    const newView =
-        createLView(viewBlockId, renderer, getOrCreateEmbeddedTView(viewBlockId, container));
+    const newView = createLView(
+        viewBlockId, renderer, getOrCreateEmbeddedTView(viewBlockId, container), null, null);
     if (lContainer.queries) {
       newView.queries = lContainer.queries.enterView(lContainer.nextIndex);
     }
diff --git a/packages/core/src/render3/interfaces/view.ts b/packages/core/src/render3/interfaces/view.ts
index d64a48922e0719..89d32647556b8e 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/render3/interfaces/view.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/render3/interfaces/view.ts
@@ -160,9 +160,11 @@ export interface LView {
   template: ComponentTemplate<{}>|null;
 
   /**
-   * For embedded views, the context with which to render the template.
+   * - For embedded views, the context with which to render the template.
+   * - For root view of the root component the context contains change detection data.
+   * - `null` otherwise.
    */
-  context: {}|null;
+  context: {}|RootContext|null;
 
   /**
    * A count of dynamic views that are children of this view (indirectly via containers).
@@ -261,6 +263,31 @@ export interface TView {
   destroyHooks: HookData|null;
 }
 
+/**
+ * RootContext contains information which is shared for all components which
+ * were bootstrapped with {@link renderComponent}.
+ */
+export interface RootContext {
+  /**
+   * A function used for scheduling change detection in the future. Usually
+   * this is `requestAnimationFrame`.
+   */
+  scheduler: (workFn: () => void) => void;
+
+  /**
+   * A promise which is resolved when all components are considered clean (not dirty).
+   *
+   * This promise is overwritten every time a first call to {@link markDirty} is invoked.
+   */
+  clean: Promise<null>;
+
+  /**
+   * RootComponent - The component which was instantiated by the call to
+   * {@link renderComponent}.
+   */
+  component: {};
+}
+
 /**
  * Array of hooks that should be executed for a view and their directive indices.
  *
diff --git a/packages/core/test/bundling/hello_world/BUILD.bazel b/packages/core/test/bundling/hello_world/BUILD.bazel
index 5954284f1807e2..897b7f7f56f086 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/bundling/hello_world/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/packages/core/test/bundling/hello_world/BUILD.bazel
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ ts_library(
     srcs = ["domino_typings.d.ts"] + glob(["*_spec.ts"]),
     deps = [
         "//packages:types",
+        "//packages/core/testing",
     ],
 )
 
diff --git a/packages/core/test/bundling/hello_world/bundle.golden_symbols.json b/packages/core/test/bundling/hello_world/bundle.golden_symbols.json
index 22e9147b83fe2c..d5c3e8f52c213f 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/bundling/hello_world/bundle.golden_symbols.json
+++ b/packages/core/test/bundling/hello_world/bundle.golden_symbols.json
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
 [
+  {
+    "name": "CLEAN_PROMISE"
+  },
   {
     "name": "EMPTY$1"
   },
@@ -32,6 +35,9 @@
   {
     "name": "createLView"
   },
+  {
+    "name": "currentView"
+  },
   {
     "name": "domRendererFactory3"
   },
diff --git a/packages/core/test/bundling/hello_world/treeshaking_spec.ts b/packages/core/test/bundling/hello_world/treeshaking_spec.ts
index 69a6c7d256f202..de629388cfaea1 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/bundling/hello_world/treeshaking_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/core/test/bundling/hello_world/treeshaking_spec.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
  * found in the LICENSE file at https://angular.io/license
  */
 
+import {withBody} from '@angular/core/testing';
 import * as fs from 'fs';
 import * as path from 'path';
 
@@ -32,39 +33,22 @@ describe('treeshaking with uglify', () => {
   it('should not contain zone.js', () => { expect(content).not.toContain('scheduleMicroTask'); });
 
   describe('functional test in domino', () => {
-    let document: Document;
-
-    beforeEach(() => {
-      const window = domino.createWindow('', 'http://localhost');
-      (global as any).document = document = window.document;
-      // Trick to avoid Event patching from
-      // https://github.com/angular/angular/blob/7cf5e95ac9f0f2648beebf0d5bd9056b79946970/packages/platform-browser/src/dom/events/dom_events.ts#L112-L132
-      // It fails with Domino with TypeError: Cannot assign to read only property
-      // 'stopImmediatePropagation' of object '#<Event>'
-      (global as any).Event = null;
-
-      document.body.innerHTML = '<hello-world></hello-world>';
-    });
-
-    afterEach(() => {
-      (global as any).document = undefined;
-      (global as any).Element = undefined;
-    });
-
-
-    it('should render hello world when not minified', () => {
-      require(path.join(PACKAGE, 'bundle.js'));
-      expect(document.body.textContent).toEqual('Hello World!');
-    });
-
-    it('should render hello world when debug minified', () => {
-      require(path.join(PACKAGE, 'bundle.min_debug.js'));
-      expect(document.body.textContent).toEqual('Hello World!');
-    });
-
-    it('should render hello world when fully minified', () => {
-      require(path.join(PACKAGE, 'bundle.min.js'));
-      expect(document.body.textContent).toEqual('Hello World!');
-    });
+    it('should render hello world when not minified',
+       withBody('<hello-world></hello-world>', () => {
+         require(path.join(PACKAGE, 'bundle.js'));
+         expect(document.body.textContent).toEqual('Hello World!');
+       }));
+
+    it('should render hello world when debug minified',
+       withBody('<hello-world></hello-world>', () => {
+         require(path.join(PACKAGE, 'bundle.min_debug.js'));
+         expect(document.body.textContent).toEqual('Hello World!');
+       }));
+
+    it('should render hello world when fully minified',
+       withBody('<hello-world></hello-world>', () => {
+         require(path.join(PACKAGE, 'bundle.min.js'));
+         expect(document.body.textContent).toEqual('Hello World!');
+       }));
   });
 });
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/core/test/render3/BUILD.bazel b/packages/core/test/render3/BUILD.bazel
index 79b074e72995d4..222540d20f3e54 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/render3/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/packages/core/test/render3/BUILD.bazel
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ ts_library(
         "//packages/animations/browser/testing",
         "//packages/common",
         "//packages/core",
+        "//packages/core/testing",
         "//packages/platform-browser",
         "//packages/platform-browser/animations",
         "//packages/platform-browser/testing",
diff --git a/packages/core/test/render3/compiler_canonical/normative.md b/packages/core/test/render3/compiler_canonical/normative.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..96653d9d745f8a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/test/render3/compiler_canonical/normative.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+This folder contains canonical examples of how the Ivy compiler translates annotations into code
+
+- The specs are marked with `NORMATIVE` => `/NORMATIVE` comments which designates what the compiler is expected to generate.
+- All local variable names are considered non-normative (informative).
+
diff --git a/packages/core/test/render3/compiler_canonical/small_app_spec.ts b/packages/core/test/render3/compiler_canonical/small_app_spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..c551db697f8d58
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/test/render3/compiler_canonical/small_app_spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,199 @@
+/**
+ * @license
+ * Copyright Google Inc. All Rights Reserved.
+ *
+ * Use of this source code is governed by an MIT-style license that can be
+ * found in the LICENSE file at https://angular.io/license
+ */
+
+import {NgForOf, NgForOfContext} from '@angular/common';
+import {Component, ContentChild, Directive, EventEmitter, Injectable, Input, NgModule, OnDestroy, Optional, Output, Pipe, PipeTransform, QueryList, SimpleChanges, TemplateRef, Type, ViewChild, ViewContainerRef} from '@angular/core';
+import {withBody} from '@angular/core/testing';
+
+import * as r3 from '../../../src/render3/index';
+
+
+
+// TODO: remove once https://github.com/angular/angular/pull/22005 lands
+export class pending_pull_22005 {
+  static defineInjectable<T>({scope, factory}: {scope?: Type<any>, factory: () => T}):
+      {scope: Type<any>| null, factory: () => T} {
+    return {scope: scope || null, factory: factory};
+  }
+
+  static defineInjector<T>({factory, providers}: {factory: () => T, providers: any[]}):
+      {factory: () => T, providers: any[]} {
+    return {factory: factory, providers: providers};
+  }
+}
+
+
+
+interface ToDo {
+  text: string;
+  done: boolean;
+}
+
+@Injectable()
+class AppState {
+  todos: ToDo[] = [
+    {text: 'Demonstrate Components', done: false},
+    {text: 'Demonstrate Structural Directives', done: false},
+    {text: 'Demonstrate NgModules', done: false},
+    {text: 'Demonstrate zoneless changed detection', done: false},
+    {text: 'Demonstrate internationalization', done: false},
+  ];
+
+  // NORMATIVE
+  static ngInjectableDef = pending_pull_22005.defineInjectable({factory: () => new AppState()});
+  // /NORMATIVE
+}
+
+@Component({
+  selector: 'todo-app',
+  template: `
+  <h1>ToDo Application</h1>
+  <div>
+    <todo *ngFor="let todo of appState.todos" [todo]="todo" (archive)="onArchive($event)"></todo>
+  </div>
+  <span>count: {{appState.todos.length}}.</span>
+  `
+})
+class ToDoAppComponent {
+  constructor(public appState: AppState) {}
+
+  onArchive(item: ToDo) {
+    const todos = this.appState.todos;
+    todos.splice(todos.indexOf(item));
+    r3.markDirty(this);
+  }
+
+  // NORMATIVE
+  static ngComponentDef = r3.defineComponent({
+    type: ToDoAppComponent,
+    tag: 'todo-app',
+    factory: function ToDoAppComponent_Factory() {
+      return new ToDoAppComponent(r3.inject(AppState));
+    },
+    template: function ToDoAppComponent_Template(ctx: ToDoAppComponent, cm: boolean) {
+      if (cm) {
+        const ToDoAppComponent_NgForOf_Template = function ToDoAppComponent_NgForOf_Template(
+            ctx1: NgForOfContext<ToDo>, cm: boolean) {
+          if (cm) {
+            r3.E(0, ToDoItemComponent);
+            r3.L('archive', ctx.onArchive.bind(ctx));
+            r3.e();
+          }
+          r3.p(0, 'todo', r3.b(ctx1.$implicit));
+        };
+        r3.E(0, 'h1');
+        r3.T(1, 'ToDo Application');
+        r3.e();
+        r3.E(2, 'div');
+        r3.C(3, c3_directives, ToDoAppComponent_NgForOf_Template);
+        r3.e();
+        r3.E(4, 'span');
+        r3.T(5);
+        r3.e();
+      }
+      r3.t(5, r3.i1('count: ', ctx.appState.todos.length, ''));
+    }
+  });
+  // /NORMATIVE
+}
+
+// NORMATIVE
+const c3_directives = [NgForOf as r3.DirectiveType<NgForOf<ToDo>>];
+// /NORMATIVE
+
+@Component({
+  selector: 'todo',
+  template: `
+    <div [class.done]="todo.done">
+      <input type="checkbox" [value]="todo.done" (click)="onCheckboxClick()"></input>
+      <span>{{todo.text}}</span>
+      <button (click)="onArchiveClick()">archive</button>
+    </div>
+  `
+})
+class ToDoItemComponent {
+  static DEFAULT_TODO: ToDo = {text: '', done: false};
+
+  @Input()
+  todo: ToDo = ToDoItemComponent.DEFAULT_TODO;
+
+  @Output()
+  archive = new EventEmitter();
+
+  onCheckboxClick() {
+    this.todo.done = !this.todo.done;
+    r3.markDirty(this);
+  }
+
+  onArchiveClick() { this.archive.emit(this.todo); }
+
+  // NORMATIVE
+  static ngComponentDef = r3.defineComponent({
+    type: ToDoItemComponent,
+    tag: 'todo',
+    factory: function ToDoItemComponent_Factory() { return new ToDoItemComponent(); },
+    template: function ToDoItemComponent_Template(ctx: ToDoItemComponent, cm: boolean) {
+      if (cm) {
+        r3.E(0, 'div');
+        r3.E(1, 'input', e1_attrs);
+        r3.L('click', ctx.onCheckboxClick.bind(ctx));
+        r3.e();
+        r3.E(2, 'span');
+        r3.T(3);
+        r3.e();
+        r3.E(4, 'button');
+        r3.L('click', ctx.onArchiveClick.bind(ctx));
+        r3.T(5, 'archive');
+        r3.e();
+        r3.e();
+      }
+      r3.p(1, 'value', r3.b(ctx.todo.done));
+      r3.t(3, r3.b(ctx.todo.text));
+    },
+    inputs: {todo: 'todo'},
+  });
+  // /NORMATIVE
+}
+// NORMATIVE
+const e1_attrs = ['type', 'checkbox'];
+// /NORMATIVE
+
+
+@NgModule({
+  declarations: [ToDoAppComponent, ToDoItemComponent],
+  providers: [AppState],
+})
+class ToDoAppModule {
+  // NORMATIVE
+  static ngInjectorDef = pending_pull_22005.defineInjector({
+    factory: () => new ToDoAppModule(),
+    providers: [AppState],
+  });
+  // /NORMATIVE
+}
+
+
+describe('small_app', () => {
+  xit('should render',
+      () => withBody('<todo-app></todo-app>', async() => {
+        // TODO: Implement this method once all of the pieces of this application can execute.
+        // TODO: add i18n example by translating to french.
+        const todoApp = r3.renderComponent(ToDoAppComponent);
+        await r3.whenRendered(todoApp);
+        expect(r3.getRenderedText(todoApp)).toEqual('...');
+        const firstCheckBox =
+            r3.getHostElement(todoApp).querySelector('input[type=checkbox]') as HTMLElement;
+        firstCheckBox.click();
+        await r3.whenRendered(todoApp);
+        expect(r3.getRenderedText(todoApp)).toEqual('...');
+        const firstArchive = r3.getHostElement(todoApp).querySelector('button') as HTMLElement;
+        firstArchive.click;
+        await r3.whenRendered(todoApp);
+        expect(r3.getRenderedText(todoApp)).toEqual('...');
+      }));
+});
diff --git a/packages/core/test/render3/component_spec.ts b/packages/core/test/render3/component_spec.ts
index 7467ec569215ea..5b4f0f61372aa3 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/render3/component_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/core/test/render3/component_spec.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,10 @@
  * found in the LICENSE file at https://angular.io/license
  */
 
-import {ViewEncapsulation} from '../../src/core';
+import {withBody} from '@angular/core/testing';
+
+import {DoCheck, ViewEncapsulation} from '../../src/core';
+import {detectChanges, getRenderedText, whenRendered} from '../../src/render3/component';
 import {defineComponent, markDirty} from '../../src/render3/index';
 import {bind, componentRefresh, container, containerRefreshEnd, containerRefreshStart, elementEnd, elementProperty, elementStart, embeddedViewEnd, embeddedViewStart, text, textBinding} from '../../src/render3/instructions';
 import {createRendererType2} from '../../src/view/index';
@@ -45,12 +48,12 @@ describe('component', () => {
       const component = renderComponent(CounterComponent);
       expect(toHtml(containerEl)).toEqual('0');
       component.count = 123;
-      markDirty(component, requestAnimationFrame);
+      markDirty(component);
       expect(toHtml(containerEl)).toEqual('0');
       requestAnimationFrame.flush();
       expect(toHtml(containerEl)).toEqual('123');
       component.increment();
-      markDirty(component, requestAnimationFrame);
+      markDirty(component);
       expect(toHtml(containerEl)).toEqual('123');
       requestAnimationFrame.flush();
       expect(toHtml(containerEl)).toEqual('124');
@@ -232,4 +235,69 @@ describe('encapsulation', () => {
         .toMatch(
             /<div host="" _nghost-c(\d+)=""><leaf _ngcontent-c\1="" _nghost-c(\d+)=""><span _ngcontent-c\2="">bar<\/span><\/leaf><\/div>/);
   });
+
+  describe('markDirty, detectChanges, whenRendered, getRenderedText', () => {
+    class MyComponent implements DoCheck {
+      value: string = 'works';
+      doCheckCount = 0;
+      ngDoCheck(): void { this.doCheckCount++; }
+
+      static ngComponentDef = defineComponent({
+        type: MyComponent,
+        tag: 'my-comp',
+        factory: () => new MyComponent(),
+        template: (ctx: MyComponent, cm: boolean) => {
+          if (cm) {
+            elementStart(0, 'span');
+            text(1);
+            elementEnd();
+          }
+          textBinding(1, bind(ctx.value));
+        }
+      });
+    }
+
+    it('should mark a component dirty and schedule change detection', withBody('my-comp', () => {
+         const myComp = renderComponent(MyComponent);
+         expect(getRenderedText(myComp)).toEqual('works');
+         myComp.value = 'updated';
+         markDirty(myComp);
+         expect(getRenderedText(myComp)).toEqual('works');
+         requestAnimationFrame.flush();
+         expect(getRenderedText(myComp)).toEqual('updated');
+       }));
+
+    it('should detectChanges on a component', withBody('my-comp', () => {
+         const myComp = renderComponent(MyComponent);
+         expect(getRenderedText(myComp)).toEqual('works');
+         myComp.value = 'updated';
+         detectChanges(myComp);
+         expect(getRenderedText(myComp)).toEqual('updated');
+       }));
+
+    it('should detectChanges only once if markDirty is called multiple times',
+       withBody('my-comp', () => {
+         const myComp = renderComponent(MyComponent);
+         expect(getRenderedText(myComp)).toEqual('works');
+         expect(myComp.doCheckCount).toBe(1);
+         myComp.value = 'ignore';
+         markDirty(myComp);
+         myComp.value = 'updated';
+         markDirty(myComp);
+         expect(getRenderedText(myComp)).toEqual('works');
+         requestAnimationFrame.flush();
+         expect(getRenderedText(myComp)).toEqual('updated');
+         expect(myComp.doCheckCount).toBe(2);
+       }));
+
+    it('should notify whenRendered', withBody('my-comp', async() => {
+         const myComp = renderComponent(MyComponent);
+         await whenRendered(myComp);
+         myComp.value = 'updated';
+         markDirty(myComp);
+         setTimeout(requestAnimationFrame.flush, 0);
+         await whenRendered(myComp);
+         expect(getRenderedText(myComp)).toEqual('updated');
+       }));
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/core/test/render3/di_spec.ts b/packages/core/test/render3/di_spec.ts
index 6be88d96e7a84f..b04c90b272f54d 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/render3/di_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/core/test/render3/di_spec.ts
@@ -324,7 +324,7 @@ describe('di', () => {
 
   describe('getOrCreateNodeInjector', () => {
     it('should handle initial undefined state', () => {
-      const contentView = createLView(-1, null !, createTView());
+      const contentView = createLView(-1, null !, createTView(), null, null);
       const oldView = enterView(contentView, null !);
       try {
         const parent = createLNode(0, LNodeFlags.Element, null, null);
diff --git a/packages/core/test/render3/load_domino.ts b/packages/core/test/render3/load_domino.ts
index 49e7b406dfd09a..d8aeb80d3e9327 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/render3/load_domino.ts
+++ b/packages/core/test/render3/load_domino.ts
@@ -27,4 +27,6 @@ if (typeof window == 'undefined') {
   // For animation tests, see
   // https://github.com/angular/angular/blob/master/packages/animations/browser/src/render/shared.ts#L140
   (global as any).Element = domino.impl.Element;
+  (global as any).isBrowser = false;
+  (global as any).isNode = true;
 }
diff --git a/packages/core/test/render3/render_util.ts b/packages/core/test/render3/render_util.ts
index 20b8b1e52ba514..7ca0b73d70d4d1 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/render3/render_util.ts
+++ b/packages/core/test/render3/render_util.ts
@@ -61,8 +61,11 @@ export function renderToHtml(
 beforeEach(resetDOM);
 
 export function renderComponent<T>(type: ComponentType<T>, rendererFactory?: RendererFactory3): T {
-  return _renderComponent(
-      type, {rendererFactory: rendererFactory || testRendererFactory, host: containerEl});
+  return _renderComponent(type, {
+    rendererFactory: rendererFactory || testRendererFactory,
+    host: containerEl,
+    scheduler: requestAnimationFrame,
+  });
 }
 
 export function toHtml<T>(componentOrElement: T | RElement): string {
diff --git a/packages/core/test/render3/renderer_factory_spec.ts b/packages/core/test/render3/renderer_factory_spec.ts
index 861fecd0696cd3..396744076d8d66 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/render3/renderer_factory_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/core/test/render3/renderer_factory_spec.ts
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ describe('animation renderer factory', () => {
     expect(toHtml(containerEl)).toEqual('foo');
   });
 
-  it('should work with animated components', (done) => {
+  isBrowser && it('should work with animated components', (done) => {
     const factory = getAnimationRendererFactory2(document);
     const component = renderComponent(SomeComponentWithAnimation, factory);
     expect(toHtml(containerEl))
diff --git a/packages/core/test/render3/testing_spec.ts b/packages/core/test/render3/testing_spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..28e6af9cde4c5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/test/render3/testing_spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+/**
+ * @license
+ * Copyright Google Inc. All Rights Reserved.
+ *
+ * Use of this source code is governed by an MIT-style license that can be
+ * found in the LICENSE file at https://angular.io/license
+ */
+
+import {withBody} from '@angular/core/testing';
+
+describe('testing', () => {
+  describe('withBody', () => {
+    let passed: boolean;
+
+    beforeEach(() => passed = false);
+    afterEach(() => expect(passed).toEqual(true));
+
+    it('should set up body', withBody('<span>works!</span>', () => {
+         expect(document.body.innerHTML).toEqual('<span>works!</span>');
+         passed = true;
+       }));
+
+    it('should support promises', withBody('<span>works!</span>', () => {
+         return Promise.resolve(true).then(() => passed = true);
+       }));
+
+    it('should support async and await', withBody('<span>works!</span>', async() => {
+         await Promise.resolve(true);
+         passed = true;
+       }));
+  });
+
+
+  describe('domino', () => {
+    it('should have document present', () => {
+      // In Browser this tests passes, bun we also want to make sure we pass in node.js
+      // We expect that node.js will load domino for us.
+      expect(document).toBeTruthy();
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('requestAnimationFrame', () => {
+    it('should have requestAnimationFrame', (done) => {
+      // In Browser we have requestAnimationFrame, but verify that we also have it node.js
+      requestAnimationFrame(done);
+    });
+  });
+});
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/core/testing/src/fake_async.ts b/packages/core/testing/src/fake_async.ts
index 96b3c4cf2d0991..38d7d773f800f9 100644
--- a/packages/core/testing/src/fake_async.ts
+++ b/packages/core/testing/src/fake_async.ts
@@ -7,12 +7,13 @@
  */
 
 
-const FakeAsyncTestZoneSpec = (Zone as any)['FakeAsyncTestZoneSpec'];
+const _Zone: any = typeof Zone !== 'undefined' ? Zone : null;
+const FakeAsyncTestZoneSpec = _Zone && _Zone['FakeAsyncTestZoneSpec'];
 type ProxyZoneSpec = {
   setDelegate(delegateSpec: ZoneSpec): void; getDelegate(): ZoneSpec; resetDelegate(): void;
 };
 const ProxyZoneSpec: {get(): ProxyZoneSpec; assertPresent: () => ProxyZoneSpec} =
-    (Zone as any)['ProxyZoneSpec'];
+    _Zone && _Zone['ProxyZoneSpec'];
 
 let _fakeAsyncTestZoneSpec: any = null;
 
@@ -24,7 +25,8 @@ let _fakeAsyncTestZoneSpec: any = null;
  */
 export function resetFakeAsyncZone() {
   _fakeAsyncTestZoneSpec = null;
-  ProxyZoneSpec.assertPresent().resetDelegate();
+  // in node.js testing we may not have ProxyZoneSpec in which case there is nothing to reset.
+  ProxyZoneSpec && ProxyZoneSpec.assertPresent().resetDelegate();
 }
 
 let _inFakeAsyncCall = false;
diff --git a/packages/core/testing/src/render3.ts b/packages/core/testing/src/render3.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..e665354d0ebbf4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/testing/src/render3.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+/**
+ * @license
+ * Copyright Google Inc. All Rights Reserved.
+ *
+ * Use of this source code is governed by an MIT-style license that can be
+ * found in the LICENSE file at https://angular.io/license
+ */
+
+/**
+* Wraps a function in a new function which sets up document and HTML for running a test.
+*
+* This function is intended to wrap an existing testing function. The wrapper
+* adds HTML to the `body` element of the `document` and subsequently tears it down.
+*
+* This function is intended to be used with `async await` and `Promise`s. If the wrapped
+* function returns a promise (or is `async`) then the teardown is delayed until that `Promise`
+* is resolved.
+*
+* On `node` this function detects if `document` is present and if not it will create one by
+* loading `domino` and installing it.
+*
+* Example:
+*
+* ```
+* describe('something', () => {
+*   it('should do something', withBody('<my-app></my-app>', async () => {
+*     const myApp = renderComponent(MyApp);
+*     await whenRendered(myApp);
+*     expect(getRenderedText(myApp)).toEqual('Hello World!');
+*   }));
+* });
+* ```
+*
+* @param html HTML which should be inserted into `body` of the `document`.
+* @param blockFn function to wrap. The function can return promise or be `async`.
+* @experimental
+*/
+export function withBody<T>(html: string, blockFn: T): T {
+  return function(done: {(): void, fail(): void}) {
+    ensureDocument();
+    let returnValue: any = undefined;
+    if (typeof blockFn === 'function') {
+      document.body.innerHTML = html;
+      let blockReturn = blockFn();
+      if (blockReturn instanceof Promise) {
+        blockReturn = blockReturn.then(done, done.fail);
+      } else {
+        done();
+      }
+    }
+  } as any;
+}
+
+let savedDocument: Document|undefined = undefined;
+let savedRequestAnimationFrame: ((callback: FrameRequestCallback) => number)|undefined = undefined;
+let requestAnimationFrameCount = 0;
+
+/**
+ * System.js uses regexp to look for `require` statements. `domino` has to be
+ * extracted into a constant so that the regexp in the System.js does not match
+ * and does not try to load domino in the browser.
+ */
+const domino: any = (function(domino) {
+  if (typeof global == 'object' && global.process && typeof require == 'function') {
+    try {
+      return require(domino);
+    } catch (e) {
+      // It is possible that we don't have domino available in which case just give up.
+    }
+  }
+  // Seems like we don't have domino, give up.
+  return null;
+})('domino');
+
+/**
+ * Ensure that global has `Document` if we are in node.js
+ * @experimental
+ */
+export function ensureDocument(): void {
+  if (domino) {
+    // we are in node.js.
+    const window = domino.createWindow('', 'http://localhost');
+    savedDocument = (global as any).document;
+    (global as any).document = window.document;
+    // Trick to avoid Event patching from
+    // https://github.com/angular/angular/blob/7cf5e95ac9f0f2648beebf0d5bd9056b79946970/packages/platform-browser/src/dom/events/dom_events.ts#L112-L132
+    // It fails with Domino with TypeError: Cannot assign to read only property
+    // 'stopImmediatePropagation' of object '#<Event>'
+    (global as any).Event = null;
+
+    savedRequestAnimationFrame = (global as any).requestAnimationFrame;
+    (global as any).requestAnimationFrame = function(cb: FrameRequestCallback): number {
+      setImmediate(cb);
+      return requestAnimationFrameCount++;
+    };
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Restore the state of `Document` between tests.
+ * @experimental
+ */
+export function cleanupDocument(): void {
+  if (savedDocument) {
+    (global as any).document = savedDocument;
+    savedDocument = undefined;
+  }
+  if (savedRequestAnimationFrame) {
+    (global as any).requestAnimationFrame = savedRequestAnimationFrame;
+    savedRequestAnimationFrame = undefined;
+  }
+}
+
+if (typeof beforeEach == 'function') beforeEach(ensureDocument);
+if (typeof afterEach == 'function') beforeEach(cleanupDocument);
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/core/testing/src/testing.ts b/packages/core/testing/src/testing.ts
index 9051a017e28a3c..d2d9476c80e7c6 100644
--- a/packages/core/testing/src/testing.ts
+++ b/packages/core/testing/src/testing.ts
@@ -19,3 +19,4 @@ export * from './test_bed';
 export * from './before_each';
 export * from './metadata_override';
 export * from './private_export_testing';
+export * from './render3';
diff --git a/packages/core/testing/tsconfig-build.json b/packages/core/testing/tsconfig-build.json
index 47785208d0c155..adc2efbeff1ed4 100644
--- a/packages/core/testing/tsconfig-build.json
+++ b/packages/core/testing/tsconfig-build.json
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@
   "files": [
     "public_api.ts",
     "../../../node_modules/zone.js/dist/zone.js.d.ts",
-    "../../system.d.ts"
+    "../../system.d.ts",
+    "../../types.d.ts"
   ],
 
   "angularCompilerOptions": {
diff --git a/tools/public_api_guard/core/testing.d.ts b/tools/public_api_guard/core/testing.d.ts
index bb02e167ee97b2..d4c5452bad790a 100644
--- a/tools/public_api_guard/core/testing.d.ts
+++ b/tools/public_api_guard/core/testing.d.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 /** @stable */
 export declare function async(fn: Function): (done: any) => any;
 
+/** @experimental */
+export declare function cleanupDocument(): void;
+
 /** @stable */
 export declare class ComponentFixture<T> {
     changeDetectorRef: ChangeDetectorRef;
@@ -29,6 +32,9 @@ export declare const ComponentFixtureNoNgZone: InjectionToken<boolean[]>;
 /** @experimental */
 export declare function discardPeriodicTasks(): void;
 
+/** @experimental */
+export declare function ensureDocument(): void;
+
 /** @experimental */
 export declare function fakeAsync(fn: Function): (...args: any[]) => any;
 
@@ -145,5 +151,8 @@ export declare type TestModuleMetadata = {
 /** @experimental */
 export declare function tick(millis?: number): void;
 
+/** @experimental */
+export declare function withBody<T>(html: string, blockFn: T): T;
+
 /** @experimental */
 export declare function withModule(moduleDef: TestModuleMetadata): InjectSetupWrapper;