Introduction:
In this tutorial, we will explore Marionette.js, an extension for Backbone.js that simplifies the process of building complex Backbone applications. Marionette.js offers a range of features and tools to enhance your development experience, making it an excellent choice for managing Backbone.js projects. We will create a simple user tracking application to demonstrate Marionette.js in action.
Prerequisites:
Before getting started, ensure you have the following prerequisites:
- A basic understanding of JavaScript and Backbone.js.
- Node.js and npm (Node Package Manager) installed on your computer.
Let’s dive into the tutorial!
Step 1: Setup
1.1. Create a new directory for your project and initialize a Node.js project. Run the following commands in your terminal:
mkdir marionette-tutorial
cd marionette-tutorial
npm init -y
1.2. Install the required dependencies (Backbone.js and Marionette.js) by running:
npm install backbone marionette
Step 2: Set Up HTML and Templates
2.1. Create an index.jade
file for your server-side template. This file will render your application’s HTML page. Here’s an example of the HTML structure:
html
head
title Marionette.js Tutorial
body
div#form
div#list
script(type="text/template", id="userViewTemplate")
<!-- Your user view template here -->
script(type="text/template", id="noUsersViewTemplate")
<!-- Your no users view template here -->
Replace the template content with your HTML as needed.
Step 3: Create Models and Collections
3.1. In your JavaScript project folder, create a new file, e.g., app.js
, and include the necessary dependencies:
const Backbone = require('backbone');
const Marionette = require('marionette');
3.2. Define your Backbone model and collection for the user:
const UserModel = Backbone.Model.extend({
// Define model attributes and methods
});
const UsersCollection = Backbone.Collection.extend({
model: UserModel,
// Define collection attributes and methods
});
Step 4: Create Views
4.1. Define an item view for rendering a single user. We’ll use the Marionette ItemView
for this purpose:
const UserView = Marionette.ItemView.extend({
template: "#userViewTemplate",
// Define view-related attributes and methods
});
4.2. Create an empty view to display when there are no users in the collection:
const NoUsersView = Marionette.ItemView.extend({
template: "#noUsersViewTemplate",
// Define view-related attributes and methods
});
4.3. Create a form view to allow users to add new entries to the collection:
const FormView = Marionette.ItemView.extend({
template: "#formViewTemplate",
events: {
"click button": "createNewUser"
},
ui: {
name: "#name",
age: "#age"
},
createNewUser: function() {
const name = this.ui.name.val();
const age = this.ui.age.val();
this.collection.add({ name, age });
this.ui.name.val("");
this.ui.age.val("");
}
});
Step 5: Initialize Marionette Application
5.1. Create a Marionette application instance and add regions for rendering views:
const UserTrackerApp = new Marionette.Application();
UserTrackerApp.addRegions({
form: "#form",
list: "#list"
});
Step 6: Set Up Application Initialization
6.1. Add an initializer function to execute when the application starts:
UserTrackerApp.addInitializer(function() {
const users = new UsersCollection();
UserTrackerApp.form.show(new FormView({ collection: users }));
UserTrackerApp.list.show(
new UsersView({ collection: users, emptyView: NoUsersView })
);
});
// Start the application
UserTrackerApp.start();
Step 7: Running Your Application
7.1. To run your application, make sure your server is running, and then open a web browser and navigate to the specified URL (e.g., http://localhost:3000).
You should now have a basic user tracking application up and running, utilizing Marionette.js to simplify your Backbone.js project structure.
Conclusion:
Marionette.js is a powerful extension for Backbone.js that streamlines the development of complex applications. In this tutorial, we’ve covered the setup, creation of models, collections, and views, and initialization of a Marionette application. You can now explore Marionette.js further to build robust Backbone.js applications with ease.