From: Matt S Trout Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2006 19:32:46 +0000 (+0000) Subject: Doc updates from the jester X-Git-Tag: 5.7099_04~661 X-Git-Url: http://git.shadowcat.co.uk/gitweb/gitweb.cgi?p=catagits%2FCatalyst-Runtime.git;a=commitdiff_plain;h=56d8daebfb3b83c215625ae0fd3fddce455851c6 Doc updates from the jester --- diff --git a/lib/Catalyst/Manual/About.pod b/lib/Catalyst/Manual/About.pod index 60c8354..de2690c 100644 --- a/lib/Catalyst/Manual/About.pod +++ b/lib/Catalyst/Manual/About.pod @@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ used for the web. Catalyst is designed to make it easy to manage the various tasks you need to do to run an application on the web, either by doing them itself, or by letting you "plug in" existing Perl modules that do what you need. There are a number of things you typically do -with a web application, for example: +with a web application. For example: =over 4 @@ -26,10 +26,10 @@ with a web application, for example: If you're on the web, you're relying on a web server, a program that sends files over the web. There are a number of these, and your -application has to do the right thing to make sure that your data works -with the web server you're using. If you change your web server, you -don't want to have to rewrite your entire application to work with the -new one. +application has to do the right thing to make sure that your program +works with the web server you're using. If you change your web server, +you don't want to have to rewrite your entire application to work with +the new one. =item * Do something based on a URI @@ -54,17 +54,18 @@ edit, and retrieve your data. =item * Handle forms -When a user submits a form, you process it, and make sure it's been -filled in properly, and then then do something based on the -result--submitting an order, updating a record, sending e-mail, or going -back to the form if there's an error. +When a user submits a form, you receive it, process it to make sure it's +been filled in properly, and then do something based on the +result--submit an order, update a record, send e-mail, or return to the +form if there's an error. =item * Display results -You have an application running on the web, people need to see -things. You usually want to display things on a web browser; you will -probably be using a template system to help generate HTML code; you -might need other kinds of display, such as PDF files or RSS feeds. +If you have an application running on the web, people need to see +things. You usually want your application displayed on a web browser, in +which case you will probably be using a template system to help generate +HTML code. But you might need other kinds of display, such as PDF files, +or other forms of output, such as RSS feeds or e-mail. =item * Manage users @@ -91,37 +92,63 @@ Catalyst makes it easy to do all of these tasks, and many more. It is extremely flexible in terms of what it allows you to do, and very fast. It has a very large number of "plugins" that interact with existing Perl modules so that you can easily use them from within your -application. Interact with a web server? Catalyst lets you use a number -of different ones, and even comes with a built-in server for testing or -local deployment. Do something based on a URI? Catalyst has extremely -flexible systems for figuring out what to do based on a URI. Interact -with a data store? Catalyst has many plugins for different databases -and database frameworks, and for other non-database storage -systems. Handle forms? Catalyst has plugins available for several form -creation and validation systems that make it easy for the programmer to -manage. Display results? Catalyst has plugins available for a number of -template modules and other output packages. Manage users? Catalyst has -plugins that handle sessions, authentication, and authorization, in any -way you need. Developing the application? Catalyst has detailed logging -built-in, which you can configure as necessary, and supports the easy -creation of new tests--some of which are automatically created when you -begin writing a new application. +application. + +=item * Interact with a web server? + +Catalyst lets you use a number of different ones, and even comes with a +built-in server for testing or local deployment. + +=item * Do something based on a URI? + +Catalyst has extremely flexible systems for figuring out what to do +based on a URI. + +=item * Interact with a data store? + +Catalyst has many plugins for different databases and database +frameworks, and for other non-database storage systems. + +=item * Handle forms? + +Catalyst has plugins available for several form creation and validation +systems that make it easy for the programmer to manage. + +=item * Display results? + +Catalyst has plugins available for a number of template modules and +other output packages. + +=item * Manage users? + +Catalyst has plugins that handle sessions, authentication, and +authorization, in any way you need. + +=item * Developing the application? + +Catalyst has detailed logging built-in, which you can configure as +necessary, and supports the easy creation of new tests--some of which +are automatically created when you begin writing a new application. =head3 What B Catalyst? Catalyst is not an out-of-the-box solution that allows you to set up a complete working e-commerce application in ten minutes. (There are, however, several systems built on top of Catalyst that can get you very -close to a working app.) It is not designed for end users, but for -working programmers. +close to a working app.) + +Catalyst is not designed for end users, but for working programmers. =head2 Web programming: The Olden Days Perl has long been favored for web applications. There are a wide variety of ways to use Perl on the web, and things have changed over time. It's possible to handle everything with very raw Perl code: -C

Hello -World!

";> for example, or + + print "Content-type: text/html\n\n

Hello + World!

"; + +for example, or my @query_elements = split(/&/, $ENV{'QUERY_STRING'}); foreach my $element (@query_elements) { @@ -136,8 +163,8 @@ parsing, generating form elements from Perl data structures, printing http headers, escaping text, and very many more, all with your choice of functional or object-oriented style. While L was revolutionary and is still widely used, it has various drawbacks that make it unsuitable -for larger applications: it is slow, your code with it generally -combines application logic and display code, and it makes it very +for larger applications: it is slow; your code with it generally +combines application logic and display code; and it makes it very difficult to handle larger applications with complicated control flow. A variety of frameworks followed, of which the most widely used is @@ -147,8 +174,9 @@ plugins and templating systems, and the like. Other systems include L, which is designed for use with XML running under mod_perl, and L--upon which Catalyst was originally based--designed for the easy development of powerful web databases. Is it not the purpose of -this document to criticize or even evaluate these other frameworks; they -may be useful for you and if so we encourage you to give them a try. +this document to criticize or even briefly evaluate these other +frameworks; they may be useful for you and if so we encourage you to +give them a try. =head2 The MVC pattern @@ -166,23 +194,24 @@ history of the pattern, and exactly what "usually" or "should" go into the Controller or the Model. We have no interest in joining such a debate. In any case, Catalyst does not enforce any particular setup; you are free to put any sort of code in any part of your application, and -this discussion (and others elsewhere in the Catalyst documentation) is -only a suggestion based on what we think works well. In most Catalyst -applications, each branch of MVC will be made of up of several Perl -modules that can handle different needs in your application. +this discussion, along with others elsewhere in the Catalyst +documentation, are only suggestions based on what we think works +well. In most Catalyst applications, each branch of MVC will be made of +up of several Perl modules that can handle different needs in your +application. The purpose of the B is to access and modify data. Typically the Model will interact with a relational database, but it's also common to use other data sources, such as the L search -engine, an LDAP server, etc. +engine or an LDAP server. The purpose of the B is to present data to the user. Typical Views use a templating module to generate HTML code, using L