CFWheels - Pragmatic, Beautiful Code

CFWheels Pragmatic, Beautiful code Indy Nagpal Straker Software Melbourne, November 2010

A bit about me •  CTO, Straker Software, New Zealand •  Been doing CF (and Flex) for a while •  Cloud-based CF Using Railo •  In love with Ruby (the language) & Rails –  Was in love with Groovy (still am, I think) •  nagpals.com/blog

Rapid ≠ Agile

Agile •  Early, continuous delivery of software •  Welcome changing requirements •  Deliver working software frequently •  Working software = progress •  Technical excellence and good design •  Simplicity is essential – work not done

“There comes a time in the history of every project when it becomes necessary to shoot the engineers and begin production.”

Need •  Quickly build and deploy database-driven web apps •  Rapid iterations in a testable fashion •  Easy for multiple developers to understand •  Working app is more important than configuring the app

Search… •  Tried lots of frameworks/methodologies •  Ruby on Rails addressed most issues •  Learn another language and framework •  Defeats the whole purpose •  Enter, CFWheels…

What is CFWheels •  Framework inspired by Ruby on Rails •  Simple organization system •  Suited for typical, database-driven web applications •  A couple of years’ old – fairly mature

Convention over configuration •  Possibly the single most important thing •  Mostly convention, minor configuration •  Easy to –  turn on –  tune in –  drop out

Directory structure •  webroot –  models –  plugins –  controllers –  tests –  views –  events –  images –  config –  javascripts –  stylesheets

Intuitive Code Structure •  View –  Responsible for display and user interaction –  Receive data from controller •  Controller –  Process requests from view –  Get/process data from model –  Make data available to the view •  Model –  Interacts with the database layer –  Responsible for validation –  Other methods to process/message data

Convention - URLs •  URLs mapped to controllers/models/views http://blog/posts/edit/1 Controller: Posts Model: Post Action: Edit Key: 1

View – http://blog/posts/ /views/posts/index.cfm <cfparam name="posts"> <ul> <cfoutput query="posts"> <li> #linkTo( text = "#posts.title#", action = "edit", key = post.id, title = "Edit #posts.name#" )# </li> </cfoutput> </ul>

Controller – http://blog/posts/ /controllers/Posts.cfc <cfcomponent extends="Controller"> <cfscript> function index(){ posts = model("post").findAll(order="createdAt") } </cfscript> </cfcomponent

Model – http://blog/posts/ /models/Post.cfc <cfcomponent extends="Model"> <cfscript> function init(){ belongsTo("author") hasMany("comments") validatesLengthOf( properties = "title", minimum = 10, maximum = 255) } </cfscript> </cfcomponent>

Convention – Files & Database •  Place in appropriate folders – MVC •  Plural database names, singular model names –  DB Table: posts –  Model: Post.cfc •  Database fields: id, createdat, updatedat

Built-in ORM •  Simple and elegant •  All major databases supported •  Almost no setup required – baked in •  CRUD instantly available via models/plugin •  Finding data using “finders” –  findOne(), findAll(), findByKey()…

Associations models/Post.cfc models/Author.cfc <cfcomponent extends="Model">  <cfcomponent extends="Model">  <cfscript> <cfscript> function init(){ function init(){ belongsTo("author") hasMany("posts") } } </cfscript>  </cfscript>  </cfcomponent> </cfcomponent> <cfscript> posts = model("post").findAll(include="author") author = model("author").findOneByKey(key=params.key,include="posts") </cfscript>

Dynamic Finders •  Dynamic finders are magical model("user").findOne(where="username='bob' and password='pass'") rewritten as model("user").findOneByUsernameAndPassword("bob,pass”)

URLs and Routing •  Beautiful URLs –  http://blog/a-good-url •  Powerful routing mechanism <cfset addRoute( name = "showPost",   pattern = "/[key]”,  controller = "Posts",  action = "show")> •  Can be turned REST-full

Multiple response formats •  http://blog/posts •  http://blog/posts.xml •  http://blog/posts.json •  http://blog/posts.csv •  http://blog/posts.pdf

Common tasks done •  Adding timestamps •  Flashing messages •  Pagination •  Sending multi-part emails •  Redirecting users

Lots of helper functions •  Views •  Model selectBox() validatePresenceOf() linkTo() findAll() timeAgoInWords() findOneByKey() paginationLinks() afterSave() titleize() pluralize() •  Controller flash() isGet() sendMail()

Plugins •  Neat architecture to add/override functionality •  Extremely useful –  Scaffold –generate CRUD application –  DBMigrate – Add/edit database structure –  Remote Form Helpers – Ajax with forms –  Localizer – Localizing an application

Baked in testing •  Ships with RocketUnit <cfcomponent extends="tests.Test"> <cfscript> function test_1_get_timezones(){ qTimezone = model("Timezone").getTimezones() assert("isQuery(qTimezone) ") assert("qTimezone.recordcount eq 56") } </cfscript> </cfcomponent>

Environments •  Different setup for applications based on stages of development –  Design, Development, Production, Testing, Maintenance •  Differ in terms of caching, error-handling •  Switch environments via config/url

Docs/Support •  Very helpful docs at cfwheels.org •  Active and supportive mailing list •  Quite a few screencasts •  Direct knowledge transfer from Ruby on Rails books/docs (e.g., Head First Rails) •  Bunch of blogs

IDE Support •  Eclipse, CFBuilder –  Syntax Dictionary •  Textmate –  Bundle •  Coda –  Lacking, but works by adding Clips

Beauty •  Simple code organization and flow •  Easy to understand code – eyeballing code •  Common tasks done with minimal code •  Pretty URLs •  Almost zero configuration, with power to configure as much as needed

Pragmatic •  Focus on simple code that solves issues •  Trades pure OO for simplicity and structure •  Easy to not use the framework if needed •  Common web application problems already solved – why reinvent the wheel(s)!

Wrap up •  Evaluate if you need a ‘framework’ •  Learn URL rewrites (Apache, IIS) •  Dabble with Ruby on Rails •  cfscript = succinct code •  Worth trying out just to see how problems can be solved in a different manner

Thank you Questions? indy@nagpals.com nagpals.com/blog

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CFWheels - Pragmatic, Beautiful Code

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