Ruud van Falier on Introducing Sitecore Habitat, presented at the Sitecore User Group Conference Europe 2016

1. Introducing
Sitecore Habitat
Ruud van Falier
Co-founder & Consultant at ParTech
April 26, 2016

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“Habitat is a Sitecore solution example built on a modular
architecture.”
What is Habitat?

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“Habitat is a Sitecore solution example built on a modular
architecture.”
“Habitat is a Sitecore solution framework focused on
streamlining the development process and optimizing
productivity.”
What is Habitat?

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• Open source
• Based on open standards
• Focus on architecture
What is Habitat?

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Focus on architecture:
• Flexibility
• Extensibility
• Simplicity
What is Habitat?

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“Web applications are unstable”
- Abraham Lincoln, 1864
Why Habitat?

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Why Habitat?

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Why Habitat?

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Why Habitat?

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Why Habitat?

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Why Habitat?

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Why Habitat?
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Why Habitat?
A
B
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Why Habitat?
A
B
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Why Habitat?

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Why Habitat?

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Layered architecture
FOUNDATIONFEATURESPROJECTS
Site-specific content & styling
Solution specific features
Foundational features

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Layered architecture
FOUNDATIONFEATURESPROJECTS
Site 1
(e.g. Corporate)
Content
Indexing
Site 2
(e.g. Webshop)
Navigation
Search
Security
Products
Sitemap
Forms
Cart
Taxonomy Assets Extensions Theming

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Layered architecture
FOUNDATIONFEATURESPROJECTS
Site 1
(e.g. Corporate)
Content
Indexing
Site 2
(e.g. Webshop)
Navigation
Search
Security
Products
Sitemap
Forms
Cart
Taxonomy Assets Extensions Theming
Dependencies
Dependencies

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Sitecore 8.1 ASP.NET MVC DynamicPlaceholders Unicorn 3.1 Bootstrap jQuery Sass Gulp
Technology stack
Assets Indexing Installer MultiSite Serialization SitecoreExtensions
Foundation
Accounts Identity Language Media Metadata Navigation News PageContent Person
Search Social Teasers
Features
Website Design
Project
Layered architecture

22. Demonstration
Habitat inVisual Studio
22

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• Everything is a module
• A module has one single purpose (no “Helper” or “Utility”
modules)
• Modules are kept separated from each other (High
Cohesion/Low Coupling)
• A module is self contained
• A module is as stable as possible
Modules

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“The granule of reuse is the granule of release”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Package_principles
• What belongs together is maintained and released together
• A module contains all types of data that are applicable to the module:
• Code
• Configuration
• Templates
• Renderings
• Items
Modules

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“Classes that change together, belong together”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Package_principles
• Define what belongs to a single module.
• Minimize the risk of a change influencing the module
• The Habitat architecture is pointless without this
• Features output semantic HTML
• Site-specific styling belongs in the Project layer
• Only include files that belong to the module. Do not include out-of-
the-box Sitecore files or other dependencies
Modules

26. Demonstration
Contents of a module
26

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• Levels of stability
• The closer to the Foundation layer, the more stable
• The more stable the module, the more abstract
Layers

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“The abstractness of a package should be in proportion to its
stability”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Package_principles
Layers

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Layers

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“Depend in the direction of stability”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Package_principles
• Project Layer -> Features Layer -> Foundation Layer
• Changes on a lower level layer have more impact and require
more tests
• In order to maintain productivity, we must be able to trust the
Foundation layer
Layers

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Project layer modules
• Only website modules
• Very concrete and specific to
the solution
• Can contain styling (CSS and
design Javascript)
• No functional Javascript
• No business logic
Foundation layer modules
• API only
• High level of abstraction
• No references to the
Features or Project layer
• Does not contain
presentation
Features layer modules
• No references to the Project
layer
• Avoid references to other
Features layer modules
• No styling (CSS and design
Javascript)
• Can contain functional
Javascript
• Outputs semantic HTML
• Contains configuration that
is specific to the module
Layers

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Cool:
• Solid architecture
• Easy to understand
• Future proof, designed for
growth
• Community support
Not so cool:
• Conventions / reasoning not
(fully) documented
• Build system
• Early days (stability)
• Not upgradable
What do I think?

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Thomas Eldblom, Sitecore
• Sitecore Habitat Architecture 1 –
Introduction:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CELqflPhm0
• Sitecore Habitat Architecture 2 – Modules:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgPrikqFe4s
• Sitecore Habitat Architecture 3 – Layers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKLpTMuQT4Y
Anders Laub, Pentia
• The ground breaking Sitecore Habitat:
http://laubplusco.net/the-groundbreaking-sitecore-
habitat
• http://laubplusco.net/layers-in-sitecore-modular-
architecture
Special thanks to
Download Habitat: https://github.com/Sitecore/Habitat

34. Thank you!
E-mail: ruud@partechit.nl
Twitter: @BrruuD
Sitecore Slack: @ruudvanfalier