Wilson is framework that adds a distinct component abstraction to Angularjs web applications. These components can be lazily-loaded at route-time automatically based on dependencies (this works in conjunction with the Wilson server). These components are decorated with common base-functionality that abstracts memory management for eventing and other various conveniences that empower developers and reduce boiler-plate code.
This document provides details around the different concepts in Wilson and their distinctive interfaces. Sections are broken up into different pages which contain more detailed documentation.
When using Wilson, all Angularjs constructs are created via a Wilson declaration.
E.G.
wilson.component('my-component', [..., function(...) { }]);
wilson.behavior('my-behavior', [..., function(...) { }]);
wilson.service('MyService', [..., function(...) { }]);
wilson.resource('MyResource', [..., function(...) { }]);
wilson.utility('MyUtility', [..., function(...) { }]);
wilson.class('MyClass', [..., function(...) { }]);
wilson.filter('MyFilter', [..., function(...) { }]);
wilson.router([..., function(...) { }]);
Although this initial declaration is not specifically on the 'angular' global instance, under-the-hood, wilson is creating these constructs (or the appropriate construct) on angular for these objects. It is important to note that the definitions inside of these method calls are in fact purely angular definitions and support all standard angular functionality. There are a few conveniences added by Wilson, but there are no removals of angular concepts.
To go into a few more specifics, here are the relationships between what is declared on Wilson and what is created on angular:
wilson.component() ---> angular.directive()
wilson.behavior() ---> angular.directive()
wilson.service() ---> angular.factory()
wilson.resource() ---> angular.factory()
wilson.class() ---> angular.factory()
wilson.utility() ---> angular.factory()
wilson.filter() ---> angular.filter()
wilson.router() ---> angular.factory()
Wilson ensures that some base options provided to angular so that these constructs are represented appropriately, but as described above, Wilson is simply declaring these onto angular and also providing the support to accept new declarations as lazily-loaded javascript content is added during navigation.
Wilson application developers are encouraged to use a few specific best practices that help apps stay organized and increase readability.
View Wilson Best Practice Guide
Wilson uses a handful of third-party javascript libraries for different constructs and utility. Many of them are referenced in the wilson concept sections of this documentation. Having a good handle on these technologies is absolutely recommended and in many cases required for wilson developers. Here is a high-level list of technologies with links to their documentation.
| Library | Usage |
|---|---|
| Angularjs | The underlying framework for wilson applications |
| jQuery | Extends the basic angularjs jqLite to jQuery proper |
| Lodash | Utility functions used to simplify code and promote self-documentation |
| i18next | Support for string internationalization |
| js-signals | Special eventing construct for services and components |
| javascript-state-machine | State machine control construct for components |