title: Select default option with ng-options using a flat array
body: <p>I'm generating <code>&lt;option&gt;</code>'s with <code>ng-options</code> using a flat array. The problem I'm having is selecting the default option element I already have defined. Seems to be a very simple task and there's tons and tons of similar questions using objects or array of objects, but everything I have found and tried for my situation does not work.</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;div ng-app="MyApp"&gt;
    &lt;div ng-controller="MyCtrl"&gt;
      &lt;select ng-options="opt as opt for opt in testOpt" data-ng-model="resultOpt"&gt;
        &lt;option value=""&gt;Choose Category&lt;/option&gt;
      &lt;/select&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
  &lt;/div&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/angularjs/1.7.8/angular.min.js"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  
  angular.module('MyApp', []).controller('MyCtrl', ['$scope', function ($scope) {
    $scope.testOpt = [
      'ID',
      'Name',
      'Email',
      'Address'
    ];
    $scope.resultOpt = '';
  }]);
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>What I'm trying to do is select the "Choose Category" option by default. As plenty of others have already suggested in other questions, I have tried to use <code>$scope.resultOpt = ''</code> in my controller and even tried <code>ng-init="resultOpt = ''"</code>, but does that not work at all. <em>This works great for an array of objects, or objects</em> but not with simple arrays. I also do not want to go outside of the AngularJS framework, I don't like mixing and matching vanilla and AngularJS code, things become messy.</p>
  
  <p>I found an existing jsFiddle that is working for AngularJS 1.4.8, but at least for AngularJS 1.7.8, this is not working when used with a flat array. Not sure if it was functionality that was removed in later versions, or it's simply a bug.</p>
  
  <p>Full example:
  <a href="https://jsfiddle.net/v4uesg02/4/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://jsfiddle.net/v4uesg02/4/</a></p>
  
  <p><strong>How can I select the "Choose Category" option by default using a flat array without going outside of AngularJS framework?</strong></p>