Archetype JavaScript Framework - Archetype JavaScript framework presentation

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Archetype JavaScript Framework project

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Why you should use Archetype

Archetype takes care of loading everything needed by your application, using a transitive dependency loading system, and starts it when everything needed is available.
No more error due to code unavailable at the good time, Archetype loads files dependency by dependency, in an efficient way.
A file can have several kind of dependencies ( css, templates, javascript ), and you can at any moment alias any dependency to another URL without any needs for a code refactoring, just with one line of configuration : this is perfect for production purpose (static domains, etc.).
Archetype provides a wide range of possibility and options, but the framework uses a convention over configuration system : use the convention, it's so easy to use! Want more? Go to the configuration!
Using this, it's easy to start with, and a powerful customisation is always available.
Archetype eases good practices : it's easier to do it the good way rather than the bad one. The framework focuses on the MVC design pattern, and clean separation between media : do not melt your data with your view and do not melt your JS/HTML/CSS together anymore!
With Archetype, it's better, it's easier to make, easier to read, it's cleaner, and it just works.
Fit your needs !
Use multiple template systems, use your prefered loggers, choose what feature to activate or not:
Archetype can provide your application from just the transitive dependency loading system up to a full JavaScript RIA framework, without any html generated on the server side, using Components, Templates, Loggers, tool libraries, an so on...
Archetype provides an easy to use and powerful logging interface : you can use a lot of logging systems, using from Firebug to piDebugger as a backend, or just an "alert" logger, switching from one to another just by changing one line in your configurations.
The logger system displays the component name and the method of function called at each log line when used in components, perfect for debugging! Even with a badly tooled browser (who said Internet Explorer ?).
Components are some kind of "mega class": in your component, write what are its dependencies, what template it uses, what is the template system used by your templates, write what are the functions you would like to have if you were in an object oriented language...
In fact JS is not object oriented, however it's not very different except for some aspect like having "this" not always bound to the object you write, and we know that it's particularly annoying.
Using the Archetype's "Components", the framework just removes the most annoying uncommon behavior compared to common imperative languages (Java, C++, PHP, etc.): you don't need to program exactly what you want, you just need to "describe it" and Archetype will write it as needed! This is the magic of methodBuilders in action!
Broadcast your actions ! That's the way you'll can program from multiple object without knowing each other.
Very powerful, this API is as simple as calling a method (with a name just following a simple convention) of your components.
The custom event communication system ables you to add multiple hooks in your code, without having to handle it particularly. This will be just the way you'll be used to communicate between you components. This is really easy to use and it provides a lot of flexibility to you code, which can now degrades gracefully depending on the conditions. Any component can talk to any, or multiple, other one, without referencing directly to them in your code.
Perfect for application evolution, to add a service, just listen for some events and fire new ones, and don't change your previous code.
Ever wondered why "this" does not point on your object while programming in JS ? This just won't happen anymore using Archetype components and the build-in methodBuilders : "this" always points on your component!
Default methodBuilders also includes a public and a private scope for your functions, and some other magic services that for example ables you to remove a component and automagically unregister any event handler.
Want to add a new service to some methods of all or parts of your components ? Just write your own Methodbuilder, the perfect tool to bring new magic in Archetype!