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diff --git a/docs/narr/introduction.rst b/docs/narr/introduction.rst index 4e39a353e..3410e6868 100644 --- a/docs/narr/introduction.rst +++ b/docs/narr/introduction.rst @@ -9,17 +9,23 @@ :mod:`repoze.bfg` Introduction ============================== -Most of the logic in a web application is completely -application-specific. For example, the content of a web page served -by one web application might be a representation of the contents of an -accounting ledger, while the content of of a web page served by -another might be a listing of songs. These applications probably -won't serve the same set of customers. However, both a ledger-serving -application and a song-serving application might be written using -:mod:`repoze.bfg` because it is a very general open source Python web -*framework*. As a framework, the primary job of :mod:`repoze.bfg` is -to make it easier for a developer to create arbitrary web -applications. +If they are judged only by differences in user interface, most web +applications seem to have very little in common with each other. For +example, a web page served by one web application might be a +representation of the contents of an accounting ledger, while a web +page served by another application might be a listing of songs. These +applications probably won't serve the same set of customers. However, +although they're not very similar on the surface, both a +ledger-serving application and a song-serving application could be +successfully be written using :mod:`repoze.bfg`. + +:mod:`repoze.bfg` is a very general open source Python web +*framework*. As a framework, its primary job is to make it easier for +a developer to create an arbitrary web application. The type of +application being created isn't really important; it could be a +spreadsheet, a corporate intranet, or an "oh-so-Web-2.0" social +networking platform. :mod:`repoze.bfg` is general enough that it can +be used in a wide variety of circumstances. .. sidebar:: Frameworks vs. Libraries @@ -75,9 +81,8 @@ Speed need, the less pain you'll have. Familiarity - As web developers, we've become accustomed to working in very - particular ways over the years. This framework is a canonization of - practices that "fit our brains". + The :mod:`repoze.bfg` framework is a canonization of practices that + "fit the brains" of its authors. Trustability :mod:`repoze.bfg` is developed conservatively and tested @@ -96,7 +101,7 @@ This book usually refers to the framework by its full package name, .. index:: single: Repoze single: Agendaless Consulting - pair: repoze; namespace package + single: repoze namespace package What Is Repoze? --------------- @@ -130,13 +135,15 @@ and can be used separately. concepts and features from each, combining them into a unique web framework. -Features such as :term:`traversal` and easy extensibility trace their -origins back to :term:`Zope`. Like Zope applications, -:mod:`repoze.bfg` applications can be easily extended. If you obey -certain constraints, the application you produce can be reused, -modified, re-integrated, or extended by third-party developers without -modification to the original application itself: no fork of the -application is required. +Many features of :mod:`repoze.bfg` trace their origins back to +:term:`Zope`. Like Zope applications, :mod:`repoze.bfg` applications +can be configured via a set of declarative configuration files. Like +Zope applications, :mod:`repoze.bfg` applications can be easily +extended: if you obey certain constraints, the application you produce +can be reused, modified, re-integrated, or extended by third-party +developers without forking the original application. The concepts of +:term:`traversal` and declarative security in :mod:`repoze.bfg` were +pioneered first in Zope. The :mod:`repoze.bfg` concept of :term:`URL dispatch` is inspired by the :term:`Routes` system used by :term:`Pylons`. Like Pylons, @@ -147,24 +154,10 @@ mechanism to map URLs to :term:`view` code, along with a set of conventions for calling those views. You are free to use third-party components that fit your needs in your applications. -Insofar as the term `model-view-controller -<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model–view–controller>`_ has been -claimed to represent a class of web frameworks, :mod:`repoze.bfg` -generally fits into this class. The concepts of :term:`view` and -:term:`model` are used by :mod:`repoze.bfg` as they would be by -Django. - -.. sidebar:: You Say BFG is MVC, But Where's The Controller? - - The :mod:`repoze.bfg` authors believe that the MVC pattern just - doesn't really fit the web very well. In a :mod:`repoze.bfg` - application, there are models, which store data, and views, which - present the data stored in models. However, no facility provided - by the framework actually maps to the concept of a "controller". - So :mod:`repoze.bfg` is actually an "MV" framework rather than an - "MVC" framework. "MVC", however, is close enough as a general - classification moniker for purposes of comparison with other web - frameworks. +The concepts of :term:`view` and :term:`model` are used by +:mod:`repoze.bfg` mostly as they would be by Django. +:mod:`repoze.bfg` has a documentation culture more like Django's than +like Zope's. Like :term:`Pylons`, but unlike :term:`Zope`, a :mod:`repoze.bfg` application developer may use completely imperative code to perform @@ -186,3 +179,21 @@ you want to store your application's data in a relational database. :mod:`repoze.bfg` makes no such assumption; it allows you to use a relational database but doesn't encourage or discourage the decision. +Other Python web frameworks advertise themselves as members of a class +of web frameworks named `model-view-controller +<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model–view–controller>`_ frameworks. +Insofar as this term has been claimed to represent a class of web +frameworks, :mod:`repoze.bfg` also generally fits into this class. + +.. sidebar:: You Say BFG is MVC, But Where's The Controller? + + The :mod:`repoze.bfg` authors believe that the MVC pattern just + doesn't really fit the web very well. In a :mod:`repoze.bfg` + application, there are models, which store data, and views, which + present the data stored in models. However, no facility provided + by the framework actually maps to the concept of a "controller". + So :mod:`repoze.bfg` is actually an "MV" framework rather than an + "MVC" framework. "MVC", however, is close enough as a general + classification moniker for purposes of comparison with other web + frameworks. + |