Angular JS: What is the need of the directive’s link function when we already had directive’s controller with scope?

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I need to perform some operations on scope and the template. It seems that I can do that in either the link function or the controller function (since both have access to the scope).

When is it the case when I have to use link function and not the controller?

angular.module('myApp').directive('abc', function($timeout) {
    return {
        restrict: 'EA',
        replace: true,
        transclude: true,
        scope: true,
        link: function(scope, elem, attr) { /* link function */ },
        controller: function($scope, $element) { /* controller function */ }
    };
}

Also, I understand that link is the non-angular world. So, I can use $watch, $digest and $apply.

What is the significance of the link function, when we already had controller?

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