Building Large jQuery Applications

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/mocambique/511151694/

Building Large
jQuery Applications
Rebecca Murphey

Me

independent JavaScript developer
based in Durham, N.C.
contributor to O’Reilly’s jQuery Cookbook
co-host of the yayQuery podcast
code organization fanatic

What counts as
a large application?

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/hippie/2475855465/

distinct but related pieces of functionality
extensive server communication
frequent updating of the page without reload

jQuery out of the box doesn’t give us
many tools for developing large applications;
its essentially a DOM manipulation and
Ajax library.

at doesn’t stop people from building
large applications with jQuery.

$(document).ready(function() {
$('#myFeature li')
.append('<div/>')
.click(function() {
var $this = $(this);
var $div = $this.find('div');
$div.load('foo.php?item=' +
$this.attr('id'),
function() {
$div.show();
$this.siblings()
.find('div').hide();
}
);
})
});

// NAVIGATION
function togglePage(section) {
// if the clicked section is already the current section AND we're in full page mode
// minimize the current tab
if (jQuery('#md_tab_'+ section).hasClass('current') && jQuery('#md_tab_'+ section + '
a').hasClass('md_fullpage')) {
// alert('clicked section is current section AND fullpage mode is active; teaser should
load');
// Minimize
jQuery('#md_tabs_navigation a').removeClass('md_fullpage');
jQuery('.md_body').hide();
jQuery('#md_feature').slideDown('normal',function(){
var bodyContent = jQuery('#md_body_'+ section);
bodyContent.fadeOut('normal',function(){
jQuery('#md_tabs_navigation a').each(function(){
var thisSection = jQuery(this).html().replace('<span<','').replace('</
span<','');
var thisSection_comp = thisSection.toLowerCase().replace(' ','_');
jQuery('#md_body_'+ thisSection_comp).load(
'/app/modules/info/loadTeaser.php?sect='+ thisSection_comp,
function(){
tb_init('.md_body a.thickbox, .md_body area.thickbox, .md_body
input.thickbox');
bodyContent.animate({ height: 'toggle', opacity:
'toggle' },"slow");
}
);
});
});
});
jQuery('#expandtabs span').empty().append('Expand Tabs');
} else {
// if the clicked section is NOT the current section OR we're NOT in full page mode
// then let's go to full page mode and show the whole tab

How do you write an application that uses
jQuery without making a tangled mess?

e key is to think of our applications as small
pieces of functionality, and then write our code
accordingly.

Patterns & Practices

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/docman/3270589892/

Above all else: Use jQuery as the DOM and Ajax
tool it is, not as a framework.

Use classes to organize your code; write
methods that do exactly one thing.

myApp.common.Messaging = Class.extend({
animDuration : 500,
hideDelay : 1500,

init : function() {
this.el = $('<div class="message"/>').prependTo('body').hide();
$.subscribe('/message/notification', $.proxy(this._showMessage, this));
},

_showMessage : function(msg) {
var hide = $.proxy(this._hideMessage, this);

this.el.append('<p>' + msg + '</p>');

if (!this.el.is(':visible')) {
this.el.slideDown(this.animDuration, $.proxy(function() {
this.showTimeout = setTimeout(hide, this.hideDelay);
}, this));
} else {
clearTimeout(this.showTimeout);
this.showTimeout = setTimeout(hide, this.hideDelay);
}
},

_hideMessage : function() {
this.el.slideUp(this.animDuration);
this._cleanup();
},

_cleanup : function() {
this.el.empty();
}
});

Use the server to send data, not markup; use a
templating system (like mustache.js) to create
markup on the client side.

myApp.widgets.Tools = Class.extend({
itemTemplate : '<li>' +
'<input type="checkbox" name="{{description}}" checked>' +
'<label for="{{description}}">{{description}}</label>' +
'</li>',

services : [],

init : function(el) {
this.el = el;
this.el.delegate('input', 'click', $.proxy(this._handleChoice, this));

$.subscribe('/service/add', $.proxy(this._handleAdd, this));
},

_handleChoice : function(e) {
var input = $(e.target),
service = input.attr('name');

$.publish('/service/' + service + '/toggle', [ input.is(':checked') ]);
},

_handleAdd : function(service) {
if ($.inArray(service, this.services) >= 0) { return; }

var html = Mustache.to_html(this.itemTemplate, { description : service });
this.el.append(html);
}
});

Use a consistent pattern for de ning
components that have a DOM representation.

var DomThinger = Class.extend({
config : {},

init : function(el /* jQuery object */, opts /* mixin */) {
this.el = el;
$.extend(this.config, opts);
}
});

Communicate between components using a
centralized messaging hub (i.e. pub/sub).

myApp.common.Messaging = Class.extend({
init : function() {
this.el = $('<div class="message"/>').prependTo('body').hide();
$.subscribe('/message/notification', $.proxy(this._showMessage, this));
},

_showMessage : function(msg) { /* ... */ },

_hideMessage : function() { /* ... */ },

_cleanup : function() { /* ... */ }
});

myApp.services._base = Class.extend({
description : '',

init : function(opts) {
$.subscribe('/search/term', $.proxy(this._doSearch, this));
$.publish('/message/notification',
[ 'Service ' + this.description + ' added' ]
);
},

_doSearch : function(term) { /* ... */ },
});

DRY and maintain separation of concerns.

$.proxy

Take control of your functions by specifying
the meaning of “this” inside of them.

myApp.services._base = Class.extend({
description : '',

init : function(opts) {
$.subscribe('/search/term', $.proxy(this._doSearch, this));
$.publish('/message/notification',
[ 'Service ' + this.description + ' added' ]
);
},

_doSearch : function(term) { /* ... */ },
});

$.fn.delegate

All the cool kids are using it
(say goodbye to $.fn.live)

myApp.widgets.Saved = Class.extend({

init : function(el) {
this.el = el;

// event delegation for searching and removing searches
this.el.delegate('li', 'click', $.proxy(this._doSearch, this));
this.el.delegate('span.remove', 'click',
$.proxy(this._removeSearch, this));
},

_doSearch : function(e) { /* ... */ },
_removeSearch : function(e) { /* ... */ }
});

Tools for Building &
Dependency Management
http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/ﬂightsaber/2204113449/

Only a handful of solutions, none that I love.

RequireJS (building and loading)
LABjs (loading only)
modulr (building only)
Roll your own
Dojo?

I’ve written plenty of code that didn’t work
this way. Sometimes for better, sometimes
for worse.

If your needs aren’t complex, don’t write
complex code to solve them. is approach
might be overkill for your project.

is approach works really well for applications
with distinct but related pieces of functionality,
and for applications that are always evolving.

Other options for code org include plugins,
object literals, and prototypal inheritance.

anks.

rebeccamurphey.com
yayquery.com
twitter.com/rmurphey

http://pinboard.in/u:rmurphey/t:large-jquery-apps/
http://github.com/rmurphey/large-jquery-apps

Special thanks to Alex Sexton, Paul Irish, Adam Sontag, James Burke, and
Peter Higgins

Building Large jQuery Applications

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