60 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
60 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
This document briefly explains why `re-frame-trace` gives you an option to
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ignore unchanged layer 2 subscriptions.
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### Background
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The `re-frame` docs
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[make a distinction](https://github.com/Day8/re-frame/blob/master/docs/SubscriptionInfographic.md)
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between `layer 2` and `layer 3` subscriptions:
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- `layer 2` subscriptions extract data directly from `app-db` and should be
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trivial in nature. There should be no computation in them beyond
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what is necessary to extract a value from `app-db`
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- `layer 3` subscriptions take values from `layer 2` nodes as inputs, and
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compute a materialised view of those values. Just to repeat: they never directly
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extract values from `app-db`. They create new values where necessary, and because of it
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they to do more serious CPU work. So we never want to run a
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`layer 3` subscriptions unless it is necessary.
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This structure delivers efficiency. You see, **all** (currently instantiated) `layer 2` subscriptions
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will run **every** time `app-db` changes in any way. All of them. Every time.
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And `app-db` changes on almost every event, so we want them to be computationally
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trivial.
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If the value of a `layer 2` subscription tests `=` to its previous value, then the further
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propagation of values through the signal graph will be pruned.
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The more computationally intensive `layer 3` subscriptions, and ultimately
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the views, will only recompute if and when there has been a change in their data inputs.
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We don't want your app recomputing views only to find that nothing has changed. Inefficient.
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### Back To Tracing
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Because `layer 2` subs run on every single modification of `app-db`, and because
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very often nothing has changed, their trace can be a bit noisy. Yes, it happened,
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but it just isn't that interesting.
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So `re-frame-trace` gives you the option of filtering out trace for
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the `layer 2` subscriptions where the value "this time" is the same as the
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value "last time".
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On the other hand, if a `layer 2` subscription runs and its value is
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different to last time, that's potentially fascinating and you'll want to
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be told all about it. :-)
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### Why do I sometimes see "Layer ?" when viewing a subscription?
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To determine whether a subscription is a layer 2 or layer 3, re-frame-trace
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looks at the input signals to a subscription. If one of the input signals is
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app-db then the subscription is a layer 2 sub, otherwise it is a layer 3. If
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a subscription hasn't run yet, then we can't know if it is a layer 2 or 3.
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In almost all cases, a subscription will be created (by `(subscribe [:my-sub])`)
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and run (by dereferencing the subscription) within the same epoch, providing
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the layer level. If you see "Layer ?" this means that a subscription was created
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but not used. This may indicate a bug in your application, although there are
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cases where this is ok.
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In most cases, after a few more epochs, that subscription will have run, and we
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know it's layer level, and can use it for any subscriptions shown on any future
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(and past) epochs.
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