concerning.rb

class Module
  # We often find ourselves with a medium-sized chunk of behavior that we'd
  # like to extract, but only mix in to a single class.
  #
  # We typically choose to leave the implementation directly in the class,
  # perhaps with a comment, because the mental and visual overhead of defining
  # a module, making it a Concern, and including it is just too great.
  #
  #
  # Using comments as lightweight modularity:
  #
  #   class Todo
  #     # Other todo implementation
  #     # ...
  #
  #     ## Event tracking
  #     has_many :events
  #
  #     before_create :track_creation
  #     after_destroy :track_deletion
  #
  #     private
  #       def track_creation
  #         # ...
  #       end
  #   end
  #
  #
  # Trying on a noisy embedded module:
  #
  #   class Todo
  #     # Other todo implementation
  #     # ...
  #
  #     module EventTracking
  #       extend ActiveSupport::Concern
  #
  #       included do
  #         has_many :events
  #         before_create :track_creation
  #         after_destroy :track_deletion
  #       end
  #
  #       private
  #         def track_creation
  #           # ...
  #         end
  #     end
  #     include EventTracking
  #   end
  #
  #
  # Once our chunk of behavior starts pushing the scroll-to-understand it
  # boundary, we give in and move it to a separate file. At this size, the
  # overhead feels in good proportion to the size of our extraction, despite
  # diluting our at-a-glance sense of how things really work.
  #
  # Mix-in noise exiled to its own file:
  #
  #   class Todo
  #     # Other todo implementation
  #     # ...
  #
  #     include TodoEventTracking
  #   end
  #
  #
  # Introducing Module#concerning.
  #
  # By quieting the mix-in noise, we arrive at a natural, low-ceremony way to
  # do bite-sized modularity:
  #
  #   class Todo
  #     # Other todo implementation
  #     # ...
  #
  #     concerning :EventTracking do
  #       included do
  #         has_many :events
  #         before_create :track_creation
  #         after_destroy :track_deletion
  #       end
  #
  #       private
  #         def track_creation
  #           # ...
  #         end
  #     end
  #   end
  #
  #   Todo.ancestors
  #   # => Todo, Todo::EventTracking, Object
  #
  #
  # This small step forward has some wonderful ripple effects. We can:
  # * grok the behaviors that compose our class in one glance
  # * clean up junk drawer classes by encapsulating their concerns
  # * stop leaning on protected/private for "internal stuff" modularity
  module Concerning
    # Define a new concern and mix it in.
    def concerning(topic, &block)
      include concern(topic, &block)
    end

    # A low-cruft shortcut to define a concern.
    #
    #   concern :EventTracking do
    #     ...
    #   end
    #
    #   module EventTracking
    #     extend ActiveSupport::Concern
    #
    #     ...
    #   end
    def concern(name, &block)
      require 'active_support/concern'

      const_set name, Module.new {
        extend ActiveSupport::Concern
        module_eval &block
      }
    end
  end
  include Concerning
end