I am trying to build an application which both works as a SPA and as a normal application without re-writing any of the code as much as possible. My research has led to believe that this could be very possible using node + backbone (on both the server and client). I have found some resources on how to do this but nothing truly complete. Have anyone tried a full solution to re-using all the code?
The resources that I found:
Re-using backbone models on the server: http://blog.andyet.com/2011/feb/15/re-using-backbonejs-models-on-the-server-with-node/
Re-using backbone views and layout manager on the server:
http://vimeo.com/46033641
I have also found some frameworks that achieve this such as (bones, derby, meteor), but I dont feel like using such a framework is the best solution since I still want to have full control over backbone and node.
What you are trying to implement is Resource-View-Presenter model. Please read this article completely http://blog.nodejitsu.com/scaling-isomorphic-javascript-code. It provides much needed insight for isomorphic code that can execute both on the client and the server. It also helped me understand various models and architectures.
What backbone.js uses is traditional MVC framework, which cannot work on both client and server without modifications. So if you want to stick to backbone.js you will face this disadvantage sooner or later. I tried backbone too and found no easy way to do that.
I tried looking for RVP frameworks on node.js, but it is still new. I would suggest you look into flatiron.js http://flatironjs.org/. It is based on Resource-View-Presenter model, the only one I could find for node.js. Some changes will be required to implement on both server/client, but it is not much. You will find it is similar to backbone.
Hope it helps you to find the right path.
I recently did some research on the field and found some interesting projects that are using the same backbone code on the client and server (nodejs).
Project 1
The first one was introduced by Keith Norma from Groupon. He managed to reuse backbone router + templates on the client and server.
App demo: https://github.com/keithnorm/SpainJS-Pipedream-Demo
Presentation at SpainJS talk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbn9c_yfuoM
Project 2
The second project is Rendr presented by Spike Brehm from Airbnb but not released yet to the public. It seems a bit more ambitious as it also trades backbone model and collections to the nodejs server. You can read more about it here: http://nerds.airbnb.com/weve-launched-our-first-nodejs-app-to-product
UPDATE: Rendr code has been released: https://github.com/airbnb/rendr
Project 3
There is another project that also allows to share backbone code between client and server: https://github.com/developmentseed/bones
Related
I am a new self-taught developer.
I have created a simple full stack app (learning management system) using PERN stack. Now, I want to deploy it to learn the end-to-end process of creating a web app. I have a plan to make incremental improvements in the app and add more functionality to make it usable.
While researching for deployment, I came across various posts that doesn't recommend using create-react-app for production ready React apps. Further, this official article from React recommends using some toolchains for deployment (I think it is another name for Frameworks or set of tools):
https://reactjs.org/docs/create-a-new-react-app.html
Another alternative is to optimize the code using Webpack etc. before deploying it. I am neither familiar with any React Framework nor much aware of performance optimization for PERN apps.
If I have to use a framework, then my existing code may not work. I may have to do complete review of the same to make it suitable for the framework.
What is the best way to deploy my PERN app which I can scale in the future. (I have partially understood the concept of client side and server side rendering. As of now, users have to login to use app. But in the future it will be like the users can see the page (to take advantage of SEO) but need to login in order to interact with the site).
Do I need to learn a framework? (In that case I may have to develop all the code in that framework to maintain compatibility). If this is the case, then I will be glad to know which one?
Or, is there other way to deploy fully-functional PERN apps ready to use by potential customers.
Eagerly looking for some answers as I am completely confused at this point.
I just found out about sails.js and i think it's really awesome. I want to build apps with sails and angular, but i haven't found any guides on doing this. I found this site which is supposed to have a talk on using sails.js instead on express in the mean stack, but there's not video there.
I would be glad for links to videos or blog posts on how to do this.
Thanks all.
This is getting downvoted because its not a direct question about code.
I have a boilerplate sailsjs app that you can use to model your own off of..
https://github.com/mikedevita/sailsjs-v10-angularjs-requirejs-boilerplate
This is based on v0.10 which is in beta right now, but the same concept applies.
I've created a simple yet powerful angular service, published as a bower component: https://github.com/diegopamio/angular-sails-bind
It basically:
Creates the model inside the $scope for you.
Retrieves the model data from the backend using socket.
Watches for changes made by the user in the UI and updates the backend immediately.
Watches for changes made in the backend and updates the UI immediately.
And it does it with just one line of code in your angular app, like this: $sailsBind("", $scope);
I made it as part of a personal project and then I decided to publish it as it could benefit others. It works with sails 0.10. Let me know if it suits your needs or if you'd like to see something else on it.
I am trying to make a separation in my new SailsJS app by creating modules/HMVC, just like ASP.NET MVC, and Codeigniter PHP. These frameworks provide a mechanism for handling such a separation. Do any one have an idea how to implement this in SailsJS?
There is some development taking place in that direction, I'm not quite sure whether or not anything usable already exists, at least I haven't been able to find anything final so far. Two threads where adding HMVC to sails was discussed are
https://github.com/balderdashy/sails/issues/1191
https://github.com/balderdashy/sails/issues/594
I think the most recent sails plugin/backend components system discussion is balderdashy/sails/pull/2083.
It looks like the most viable module solution today is balderdashy/sails-hook-subapps, an example of a sails hook. Hopefully, it works with 0.12.x and gets some attention/docs soon!
Additionally, the project sailorjs/sailorjs appears to do exactly this as a fork of sails from version 0.10.x, though I don't know if there are plans ot utilize that work in sails.js.
I've been building apps on the Rails platform for over a year now. That being said, if you can make any comparisons to the Rails equivalent, it might help all parties involved. Just a thought.
Anyway, I'm trying to wrap my head around node, and the front end framework, ember. I was originally intrigued by stumbling across the MEAN stack. After digging into that a bit, I realized I didn't really like angular all that much, and started looking up alternates. Ember seems pretty awesome, and the syntax seems much cleaner without all of the ng- markup to the DOM. I'd like to experiment with mongoDB, and I feel like this approach will teach me a lot.
My question, I guess, is Express. What is the role of Express when using Node? It seems that Ember (even Angular, for that matter) has a pretty expressive router. In my limited understanding of it all, I thought Express was for routes? I found this, which seems to be a MEEN stack of sorts.
The package.json for MEAN is massive, but that MEEN I linked to, is very tiny, with just express, mongoose, and request. Another question, I suppose, is what are the different roles in a MEAN / MEEN stack? Does that make sense? I'm rambling a bit, lol, but I'm hoping to keep researching and playing with this stuff until I have that 'Ah ha!' moment, you know?
mongoose - seems to be a better way of interacting with mongoDB?
express - routes specific to node?
request - seems simple enough. send external requests to other pages on the web. I can't see what the equivalent package would be in MEAN, is this truly needed?
grunt - runs a bunch of stuff so that all the different parts play nicely together?
Any explanations, links, or help are greatly appreciated.
If you're coming from Rails I'd break it down like this:
node.js -> Ruby - your server side language / platform
express -> Rails - your server side framework, although a little more like Sinatra
grunt -> Rake - your preprocessor / build tool
npm -> gem - your server side package manager
Angular.js / Ember.js -> No direct map, your client side framework.
mongoose.js -> ActiveRecord, but for MongoDb. If you want a SQL ORM use Sequelize
Two other tools worth learning are
bower -> your client side package manager, for things like bootstrap
yeoman -> all round js app scaffolding, ties everything together, a great tool to see how to scaffold "best practice" apps.
I am new to all three but I do know javascript well. I understand basics of them all but do not understand what the best way to implement the NodeJS server javascript with the express MVC and MongoDB database querys. I want to break up all this into their own files obviously but I am not sure how everything fits into the pre-created project template created by Express. Does anyone have a good solution or resource to share with me? Thank you
I recently started with node.js, express and mongodb myself and it's true the resources out there are mostly outdated. First of all, express is not an mvc framework. It has no opinion on the structure which you'll find out that it makes it so great. Your question is how to organise the code? It's clearly a personal preference but you can create a model folder where you can put your db queries for specific resources, your lib folder where you can establish a connection to your mongodb instance and call it wherever you need it and use the routes folder for your more specific needs like controllers on a traditional MVC. Another thing is that you have to decide how to interact with mongo. You can either use the native mongodb driver, perhaps with mongoskin as suggested, or mongoose for easier interactions such as defining schemas. Personally i prefer the native but it took me a while to get what it does and how it works. Finally for resources what i can suggest from personal experience and it's still my own opinion, is that the best thing you can do is buy the book Node.js in Action which was what made me realize what node.js is all about and how to use it. Hope it helps...