:mod:`repoze.bfg` Introduction ============================== :mod:`repoze.bfg` is a Python web framework. It is inspired by :term:`Zope`, :term:`Pylons`, and :term:`Django`. :mod:`repoze.bfg` uses the :term:`WSGI` protocol to handle requests and responses. Similarities to Other Frameworks -------------------------------- .. sidebar:: Django's Authors Explain Why It Doesn't Use "MVC" Terminology Django appears to be a MVC framework, but you call the Controller the "view", and the View the "template". How come you don't use the standard names? Well, the standard names are debatable. In our interpretation of MVC, the "view" describes the data that gets presented to the user. It's not necessarily how the data looks, but which data is presented. The view describes which data you see, not how you see it. It's a subtle distinction. So, in our case, a "view" is the Python callback function for a particular URL, because that callback function describes which data is presented. Furthermore, it's sensible to separate content from presentation - which is where templates come in. In Django, a "view" describes which data is presented, but a view normally delegates to a template, which describes how the data is presented. Where does the "controller" fit in, then? In Django's case, it's probably the framework itself: the machinery that sends a request to the appropriate view, according to the Django URL configuration. :mod:`repoze.bfg` was inspired by :term:`Zope`, :term:`Pylons` and :term:`Django`. The :mod:`repoze.bfg` concept of :term:`traversal` is inspired by :term:`Zope`. Additionally, :mod:`repoze.bfg` uses the :term:`Zope Component Architecture` internally, as do Zope 2, Zope 3, and :term:`Grok`. :mod:`repoze.bfg` application developers may use either :term:`ZCML` (an XML dialect, used in Zope) or decorators to perform various application configuration tasks. The decorator support is provided by the :term:`Grok` project. Like Zope, :mod:`repoze.bfg` allows you to create applications which do not need to be forked or otherwise modified to be extended or overridden by a third party developer. The :mod:`repoze.bfg` concept of :term:`URL dispatch` is inspired by the :term:`Routes` system used by :term:`Pylons`. Like Pylons, :mod:`repoze.bfg` is mostly policy-free. It makes no assertions about which database you should use, and its built-in templating facilities are only for convenience. In essence, it only supplies a mechanism to map URLs to :term:`view` code, along with a convention for calling those views. You are free to use third-party components in your application that fit your needs. Also like Pylons, :mod:`repoze.bfg` is dependent upon WSGI. The Django docs explain that Django is not an "MVC" ("model/view/controller") framework in their `FAQ `_. The sidebar to the right has the Django authors' take on why "MVC" terminology doesn't match the web very well. The concepts of :term:`view` and :term:`model` are used by :mod:`repoze.bfg` as they would be by Django. The skeleton code generator of :mod:`repoze.bfg` generates a directory layout very similar to the directory layout suggested by the `Django Book `_ . Differences from Other Frameworks --------------------------------- Like :term:`Zope`, the :mod:`repoze.bfg` framework imposes more `control inversion `_ upon application developers than other Python frameworks such as :term:`Pylons`. For example :mod:`repoze.bfg` allows you to explicitly resolve a URL to a :term:`context` object before invoking a :term:`view`. Pylons and other Python "MVC" frameworks have no such intermediate step; they resolve a URL directly to a controller. Another example: using the :mod:`repoze.bfg` security subsystem assumes that you're willing to attach an :term:`ACL` to a :term:`context` object; the ACL is checked by the framework itself instead of by user code, and access is permitted or denied by the framework itself rather than by user code. Such a task would typically be performed by user-space decorators in other Python web frameworks. Like Zope, but unlike :term:`Pylons` applications or most :term:`Django` applications, when you build a :mod:`repoze.bfg` application, 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. See :ref:`extending_chapter` for more information about extending or modifying an existing :mod:`repoze.bfg` application. :mod:`repoze.bfg` uses the :term:`Zope Component Architecture` under the hood. However, while a Zope application developer tends to need to understand the component architecture (and concepts such as adapters, utilities, and interfaces) to create a non-trivial application, a :mod:`repoze.bfg` application developer isn't required to interact with or understand the component architecture at all. :mod:`repoze.bfg` tends to "hide" most interaction with the component architecture behind special-purpose API functions and ZCML directives. Also unlike :term:`Zope` and unlike other "full-featured" frameworks such as :term:`Django`, :mod:`repoze.bfg` makes no assumptions about which persistence mechanisms you should use to build an application. Zope applications are typically reliant on :term:`ZODB`; :mod:`repoze.bfg` allows you to build :term:`ZODB` applications, but it has no reliance on the ZODB package. Likewise, :term:`Django` tends to assume that 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 an application developer about such a decision. Why? ---- *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". *Simplicity*: :mod:`repoze.bfg` attempts to be a *"pay only for what you eat"* framework in which you can be productive quickly with partial knowledge. We contrast this with *"pay up front for what anyone might eventually want to eat"* frameworks, which tend to expect you to understand a great many concepts and technologies fully before you can be truly productive. :mod:`repoze.bfg` doesn't force you to use any particular technology to produce an application, and we try to keep the core set of concepts you need to understand to a minimum. *Minimalism*: :mod:`repoze.bfg` provides only the very basics: *URL to code mapping*, *templating*, *security*, and *resources*. There is not much more to the framework than these pieces: you are expected to provide the rest. *Documentation*: Because :mod:`repoze.bfg` is minimal, it's relatively easy to keep its documentation up-to-date, which is helpful to bring new developers up to speed. It's our goal that nothing remain undocumented about :mod:`repoze.bfg`. *Speed*: :mod:`repoze.bfg` is faster than many other popular Python web frameworks for common tasks such as templating and simple response generation. The "hardware is cheap" mantra has its limits when you're responsible for managing a great many machines: the fewer you need, the less pain you'll have. It's Tested ----------- *If it ain't tested, it's broke.* We strive to test :mod:`repoze.bfg` completely. Below a run of the ``nosetests`` command configured to show code coverage information (run against the :mod:`repoze.bfg` trunk as of the 1.1b1 release). .. code-block:: bash :linenos: [chrism@snowpro trunk]$ python setup.py nosetests --with-coverage running nosetests running egg_info writing requirements to repoze.bfg.egg-info/requires.txt writing repoze.bfg.egg-info/PKG-INFO writing namespace_packages to repoze.bfg.egg-info/namespace_packages.txt writing top-level names to repoze.bfg.egg-info/top_level.txt writing dependency_links to repoze.bfg.egg-info/dependency_links.txt writing entry points to repoze.bfg.egg-info/entry_points.txt writing manifest file 'repoze.bfg.egg-info/SOURCES.txt' running build_ext ........................................................................... ........................................................................... ........................................................................... ........................................................................... ........................................................................... ........................................................................... ........................................................................... ........................................................................... ........................................................................... ................................................. Name Stmts Exec Cover Missing ---------------------------------------------------------------------- repoze.bfg 0 0 100% repoze.bfg.authentication 198 198 100% repoze.bfg.authorization 50 50 100% repoze.bfg.chameleon_text 45 45 100% repoze.bfg.chameleon_zpt 38 38 100% repoze.bfg.compat 6 6 100% repoze.bfg.configuration 80 80 100% repoze.bfg.encode 49 49 100% repoze.bfg.events 18 18 100% repoze.bfg.exceptions 2 2 100% repoze.bfg.includes 1 1 100% repoze.bfg.interfaces 66 66 100% repoze.bfg.location 14 14 100% repoze.bfg.log 9 9 100% repoze.bfg.paster 60 60 100% repoze.bfg.path 36 36 100% repoze.bfg.registry 14 14 100% repoze.bfg.renderers 54 54 100% repoze.bfg.request 57 57 100% repoze.bfg.resource 123 123 100% repoze.bfg.router 99 99 100% repoze.bfg.scripting 10 10 100% repoze.bfg.security 99 99 100% repoze.bfg.settings 35 35 100% repoze.bfg.static 53 53 100% repoze.bfg.testing 262 262 100% repoze.bfg.tests 1 1 100% repoze.bfg.tests.fixtureapp 1 1 100% repoze.bfg.tests.fixtureapp.models 4 4 100% repoze.bfg.tests.fixtureapp.subpackage 1 1 100% repoze.bfg.tests.fixtureapp.views 4 4 100% repoze.bfg.tests.grokkedapp 53 53 100% repoze.bfg.tests.grokkedapp.another 37 37 100% repoze.bfg.tests.routesapp 1 1 100% repoze.bfg.tests.routesapp.views 4 4 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_authentication 487 487 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_authorization 124 124 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_chameleon_text 161 161 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_chameleon_zpt 146 146 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_compat 7 7 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_configuration 208 208 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_encode 47 47 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_events 59 59 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_integration 153 153 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_location 34 34 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_log 11 11 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_paster 110 110 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_path 119 119 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_registry 34 34 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_renderers 174 174 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_request 141 141 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_resource 338 338 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_router 441 441 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_scripting 44 44 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_security 273 273 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_settings 138 138 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_static 126 126 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_testing 488 488 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_threadlocal 70 70 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_traversal 904 904 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_url 206 206 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_urldispatch 290 290 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_view 1379 1379 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_wsgi 99 99 100% repoze.bfg.tests.test_zcml 2473 2473 100% repoze.bfg.threadlocal 27 27 100% repoze.bfg.traversal 179 179 100% repoze.bfg.url 65 65 100% repoze.bfg.urldispatch 117 117 100% repoze.bfg.view 368 368 100% repoze.bfg.wsgi 26 26 100% repoze.bfg.zcml 354 354 100% ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TOTAL 12004 12004 100% ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Ran 724 tests in 5.627s OK