re-frame/README.md

[logo](/images/logo/re-frame_128w.png?raw=true)

## Derived Values, Flowing

> This, milord, is my family's axe. We have owned it for almost nine hundred years, see. Of course,
sometimes it needed a new blade. And sometimes it has required a new handle, new designs on the
metalwork, a little refreshing of the ornamentation ... but is this not the nine hundred-year-old
axe of my family? And because it has changed gently over time, it is still a pretty good axe,
y'know. Pretty good.

> -- Terry Pratchett, The Fifth Elephant <br>
> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Reflecting on identity, flow and derived values


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## Why Should You Care?

Perhaps:

1.  You want to develop an [SPA] in ClojureScript, and you are looking for a framework
2.  You believe Facebook did something magnificent when it created React, and
    you are curious about the further implications. Is the combination of
    `reactive programming`, `functional programming` and `immutable data` going to
    **completely change everything**?  And, if so, what would that look like in a language
    that embraces those paradigms?
3.  You're taking a [Functional Design and Programming course at San Diego State University](http://www.eli.sdsu.edu/courses/fall15/cs696/index.html)
    and you have a re-frame/reagent assignment due.  You've left the reading a bit late, right? I remember those days. Just.
4.  re-frame is impressively buzzword compliant: it has reactivity,
    unidirectional data flow, pristinely pure functions,
    interceptors, coeffects, conveyor belts, statechart-friendliness (FSM)
    and claims an immaculate hammock conception. It also has a charming
    xkcd reference (soon) and a hilarious, insiders-joke T-shirt,
    ideal for conferences (in design).  What could possibly go wrong?

## re-frame

re-frame is a pattern for writing [SPAs] in ClojureScript, using [Reagent].

McCoy might report "It's MVC, Jim, but not as we know it".  And you would respond 
"McCoy, you damn trouble maker, why even mention an OO pattern? 
re-frame is a **functional framework**."

Being a functional framework, it is about data, and the pure functions 
which transform that data.

### It is a loop

Architecturally, re-frame implements "a perpetual loop".

To build an app, you hang pure functions on certain parts of this loop, 
and re-frame looks after the `conveyance of data` 
around the loop, into and out of the transforming functions you 
provide - which is why the tag line is "Derived Values, Flowing".

### It does Physics

Remember this diagram from school? The water cycle, right?

<img height="350px" align="right" src="/images/the-water-cycle.png?raw=true">

Two distinct stages, involving water in different phases, being acted upon
by different forces: gravity working one way, evaporation/convection the other.

To understand re-frame, **imagine data flowing around that loop instead of water**. 

re-frame
provides the conveyance of the data around the loop - the equivalent of gravity, evaporation and convection.
You design what's flowing and then you hang functions off the loop at
various points to compute the data's phase changes.

Sure, right now, you're thinking "lazy sod - make a proper Computer Science-y diagram". But, no.
Joe Armstrong says "don't break the laws of physics" - I'm sure
you've seen the videos - and if he says to do something, you do it
(unless Rich Hickey disagrees, and says to do something else). So,
this diagram, apart from being a plausible analogy which might help
you to understand re-frame, is **practically proof** it does physics.

### It is a 6-domino cascade

<img align="right" src="/images/Readme/Dominoes-small.jpg?raw=true">

Computationally, each iteration of the loop involves a
6 domino cascade.

One domino triggers the next, which triggers the next, etc,
until we are back at the beginning of the loop. Each iteration is the same cascade.

Here are the 6 dominoes ...

### 1st Domino - Event Initiation

An `event` is sent when something happens - the user 
clicks a button, or a websocket receives a new message.

Without the impulse of a triggering `event`, no 6 domino cascade occurs.
It is only because of `events` that a re-frame app is propelled,
loop iteration after loop iteration, from one state to the next.

re-frame is `event` driven.

### 2nd Domino - Event Handling

In response to an `event`, an application must compute 
its implication (the ambition, the intent). This is known as `event handling`.

Event handler functions compute `effects` or, more accurately, 
a **description of `effects`**. So they compute a data structure 
which says, declaratively, how the world should change (because of the event).

Much of the time, only the "app state" of the SPA itself need
change, but sometimes the outside world must also be effected
(localstore, cookies, databases, emails, logs, etc).

### 3rd Domino - Effect Handling

These descriptions of `effects` are realised (actioned). 

Now, to a functional programmer, `effects` are scary in a 
[xenomorph kind of way](https://www.google.com.au/search?q=xenomorph).
Nothing messes with functional purity
quite like the need for effects and coeffects. But, on the other hand, `effects` are equally 
marvelous because they take the app forward. Without them, an app stays stuck in one state forever,
never achieving anything.

So re-frame embraces the protagonist nature of `effects` - the entire, unruly zoo of them - but
it does so in a controlled, debuggable, auditable, mockable, plugable way.

### A Pivot Point

The world has just changed and, very often,
one particular part of the world, namely the **app's state**.

re-frame's `app state` is held in one place - think of it like you 
would an in-memory, central database for the app. (Much more details later)

When domino 3 changes this `app state`, it triggers the next part of the cascade 
involving dominoes 4-5-6.

### The view formula 

The 4-5-6 domino cascade implements the formula made famous by Facebook's ground-breaking React library:  
  `v = f(s)`  

A view, `v`, is a function, `f`, of the app state, `s`.

Or, said another way, there are functions `f` that compute which DOM nodes, `v`,
should be displayed to the user when the application is in a given app state, `s`.

Or, another way: **over time**, as `s` changes, `f`
will be re-run each time to compute new `v`, forever keeping `v` up to date with the current `s`.

In our case, domino 3 changes `s`, the application state,
and, in response, dominoes 4-5-6 are concerned with re-running `f` to compute the new `v` 
shown to the user.

Except, of course, there are nuances.  For instance, there's no single `f` to run.
There may be many functions which collectively build the overall DOM, 
and only part of `s` may change at any one time, so only part of the 
`v` (DOM) need be re-computed and updated. And some parts of `v` might not 
even be showing right now.

### Domino 4 - Query 

Domino 4 is about extracting data from "app state", and providing it 
in the right format for view functions (which are Domino 5).

Domino 4 is a novel and efficient de-duplicated signal graph which 
runs query functions on the app state, `s`, efficiently computing 
reactive, multi-layered, "materialised views" of `s`.

(Relax about any unfamiliar terminology, you'll soon 
see how simple the code actually is)

### Domino 5 - View

Domino 5 is one or more **view functions** (aka Reagent components) that compute the 
UI DOM that should be displayed to the user.

To render the right UI, they need to source application state, which is
delivered reactively via the queries of Domino 4. They 
compute hiccup-formatted data, which is a description of the DOM required.

### Domino 6 - DOM

You don't write Domino 6 - it is handled for you 
by Reagent/React. I mention it here 
for completeness and to fully close the loop.

This is the step in which the hiccup-formatted 
"descriptions of required DOM", returned by the view functions of Domino 5, are made real. The  
browser DOM nodes are mutated. 

## A Cascade Of Simple Functions

**Each of the dominoes you write are simple, pure functions** which 
can be be described, understood and 
tested independently. They take data, transform it and return new data.

The loop itself is very mechanical in operation.
So, there's a regularity, simplicity and
certainty to how a re-frame app goes about its business,
which leads, in turn, to an ease in reasoning and debugging. This is 
key to why re-frame is so pleasing to work with - it is just so 
straightforward.

## Managing mutation

The two sub-cascades 1-2-3 and 4-5-6 have a similar structure.

In each, it is the second to last domino which 
computes "descriptions" of mutations required, and it is 
the last domino which does the dirty work and realises these descriptions. 

In both cases, you don't need to worry yourself about this dirty work. re-frame looks 
after those dominoes.

## Code Fragments

Let's take this domino narrative one step further and introduce some code fragments.

> Don't expect 
to completely grok the terse code presented below. We're still at 30,000 feet. Details later. 
 
**Imagine:** the UI of an SPA shows a list of items. This user 
clicks the "delete" button next to the 3rd item in a list.

In response, 
what happens within this imaginary re-frame app? Here's a sketch of the 6 domino cascade:

### Code For Domino 1

The delete button for that 3rd item will have an `on-click` handler (function) which looks
like this:  
```clj
 #(re-frame.core/dispatch [:delete-item 2486])
```

`dispatch` emits an `event`.  

A re-frame `event` is a vector and, in this case, 
it has 2 elements: `[:delete-item 2486]`. The first element,
`:delete-item`, is the kind of event. The rest is optional, further data about the 
`event` - in this case, my made-up id, `2486`, for the item to delete.

### Code For Domino 2

The `event handler`, `h`, associated with 
`:delete-item` is called to compute the `effect` of this event.

This handler function, `h`, must take two arguments: the state-of-the-world 
and the event, and it must return an effects map.  Without going into any
explanations at this early point, here's a sketch of what a handler 
might look like:
```clj
(defn h 
 [{:keys [db]} event]                    ;; args:  db from coeffect, event
 (let [item-id (second event)]           ;; extract id from event vector
   {:db  (dissoc-in db [:items item-id])})) ;; effect is change db
```

On program startup, `h` would have been 
associated with `:delete-item` `events` like this:
```clj
(re-frame.core/reg-event-fx  :delete-item  h)
```

### Code For Domino 3

An `effect handler` (function) actions the `effects` returned by `h`:
```clj
{:db  (dissoc-in db [:items item-id])}
```
So that's a map. The keys identify the required kind of `effect`, and the values 
supply further details.

A key of `:db` means to update the app state, with the new computed value.

This update of "app state" is a mutative step, facilitated by re-frame
when it sees a `:db` effect. 

Why the name `:db`?  re-frame sees "app state" as something of an in-memory 
database.

### Code For Domino 4

Because a new version of "app state" has been computed and installed, 
a query (function) over this app state is called automatically (reactively), 
itself computing the list of items. 

Because the items 
are stored in app state, there's not a lot to compute in this case. This 
subscription acts more like an accessor.
```clj
(defn query-fn
  [db _]         ;; db is current app state
  (:items db))   ;; not much of a materialised view
```

On program startup, such a query-fn must be associated with a key, 
(for reasons obvious in the next domino) like this:
```clj
(re-frame.core/reg-sub  :query-items  query-fn)
```
   
### Code For Domino 5

Because the query function re-computed a new value, a view (function) which subscribes
to "items", is called automatically (reactively) to re-compute DOM.  

It produces 
a hiccup-formatted data structure describing the DOM nodes required (no DOM nodes 
for the deleted item, obviously, but otherwise the same DOM as last time).

```clj
(defn items-view
  []
  (let [items  (subscribe [:query-items])]  ;; source items from app state
    [:div (map item-render @items]))   ;; assume item-render already written
```

Notice how `items` is "sourced" from "app state" via `subscribe`. It is called with a query key
to identify what data it needs, which should make a prior registration. 
   
### Code For Domino 6

The computed DOM (hiccup) is made real by Reagent/React. No code from you required. Just happens.

The DOM "this
time" is the same as last time, except for the absence of DOM for the
deleted item, so the mutation will be to remove some DOM nodes.

### 3-4-5-6 Summary

The key point to understand about our 3-4-5-6 example is:
  - a change to app state ...
  - triggers query functions to rerun ...
  - which triggers view functions to rerun
  - which causes new DOM 

Boom, boom, boom go the dominoes.

It is a reactive data flow. 

### Aaaaand we're done 

At this point, the re-frame app returns to a quiescent state, 
waiting for the next event.

## So, your job is ... 

When building a re-frame app, you will: 
 - design your app's information model (data and schema layer)
 - write and register event handler functions  (control and transition layer)  (domino 2)    
 - (once in a blue moon) write and register effect and coeffect handler 
   functions (domino 3) which do the mutative dirty work of which we dare not 
   speak. 
 - write and register query functions which implement nodes in a signal graph (query layer) (domino 4)
 - write Reagent view functions  (view layer)  (domino 5)

## It Leverages Data

You might already know that ClojureScript is a modern lisp, and that
lisps are **homoiconic**.  If not, you do now.

The homoiconic bit is significant. It means you program in a lisp by creating and
assembling lisp data structures. Think about that. You are **programming in data**. 
The functions which later manipulate data, start as data.

Clojure programmers place particular 
emphasis on the primacy of data. When they aren't re-watching Rich Hickey videos, 
and wishing their hair was darker and more curly, 
they meditate on aphorisms like "Data is the ultimate in late binding".

I cannot stress enough what a big deal this is. It can seem 
like a syntax curiosity at first but, when the penny drops for 
you on this, it tends to be a profound moment. And once you 
understand the importance of this concept at the language level, 
you naturally want to leverage similar power at the library level.

So, it will come as no surprise, then, to know that re-frame has a 
data oriented design. Events are data. Effects are data. DOM is data.
The functions which transform data are registered and looked up via 
data. Interceptors (data) are preferred over middleware (higher 
order functions). Etc.

Data - that's the way we roll.

## It is mature and proven in the large

re-frame was released in early 2015, and has since [been](https://www.fullcontact.com)
successfully
[used](https://www.nubank.com.br) 
by
[quite](http://open.mediaexpress.reuters.com/)
a 
[few](https://rokt.com/) companies and
individuals to build complex apps, many running beyond 40K lines of
ClojureScript.

<img align="right" src="/images/scale-changes-everything.jpg?raw=true">

**Scale changes everything.** Frameworks
are just pesky overhead at small scale - measure them instead by how they help
you tame the complexity of bigger apps, and in this regard re-frame has
worked out well. Some have been effusive in their praise.

Having said that, re-frame remains a work in progress and it falls
short in a couple of ways - for example it doesn't work as well as we'd
like with devcards, because it is a framework, rather than a library. 
We're still puzzling over some aspects and tweaking as we go. All designs
represent a point in the possible design space, with pros and cons.

And, yes, re-frame is fast, straight out of the box. And, yes, it has 
a good testing story (unit and behavioural). And, yes, it works in with figwheel to create
a delightful hot-loading development story. And, yes, it has 
fun specialist tooling, and a community,
and useful 3rd party libraries.

## Where Do I Go Next?

We haven't yet looked at code much, but **at this point you 
already know 50% of re-frame.**  There's detail to fill in, for sure,
but the core concepts, and basic coding techniques, are now known to you.

Next, you need to do the code walk-through in the tutorial. This
will get your knowledge to about 70%. The
final 30% will come incrementally with use, and by reading the 
tutorials (of which there's a few).

So, next, read more here: <br>
https://github.com/Day8/re-frame/blob/master/docs/README.md

Experiment with these examples: <br>
https://github.com/Day8/re-frame/tree/master/examples

Use a template to create your own project: <br>
Client only:  https://github.com/Day8/re-frame-template  <br>
Full Stack: http://www.luminusweb.net/

Use these resources: <br>
https://github.com/Day8/re-frame/blob/develop/docs/External-Resources.md

### T-Shirt Unlocked

Good news.  If you've read this far,
your insiders T-shirt will be arriving soon - it
will feature turtles, 
[xkcd](http://xkcd.com/1416/) and something indicating "data all the way down". 
But we're still working on the hilarious caption bit. Open a
repo issue with a suggestion.


## Licence

Copyright © 2014-2016 Michael Thompson

Distributed under The MIT License (MIT) - See LICENSE.txt


[SPAs]:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-page_application
[SPA]:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-page_application
[Reagent]:http://reagent-project.github.io/