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@bhollis
Last active July 17, 2021 08:05
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A simple, made-up example of the code for a simple AngularJS blog viewer as a more detailed exploration of http://benhollis.net/blog/2014/01/17/cleanly-declaring-angularjs-services-with-coffeescript/ . Yes, I know about `$resource`, but I prefer not to use it.
app = angular.module 'BlogExample', []
# Simple controller that loads all blog posts
app.controller 'BlogCtrl', ['$scope', 'Blog', ($scope, Blog) ->
# Get all the blog posts
Blog.all().then (posts) ->
$scope.posts = posts
# Extend the $scope with our own properties, all in one big block
# I like this because it looks like declaring a class.
angular.extend $scope,
posts: []
# A new, prototype post that will be bound to the "new post" form.
newPost: Blog.newPost()
# When the "save post" button is clicked:
addPost: ->
$scope.newPost.save().then ->
@posts.push $scope.newPost
$scope.newPost = Blog.newPost()
]
# The Blog service provides access to Posts. We immediately "new" the class
# to provide a single instance of the Blog class to the injector.
app.factory 'Blog', ['$http', 'Post', ($http, Post) ->
new class Blog
# Get all blog posts
all: ->
# Assume a response like:
# { "posts": [ { "title": "Hello World", "author": "Ben Hollis", "body": "This is an example." } ] }
$http.get('/posts').then (result) ->
new Post(post.title, post.author, post.body, true) for post in result.data.posts
# Create a new, empty blog post
newPost: ->
new Post('', '', '')
]
# This makes the Post class available for injection, rather than an instance of Post. Thus, it doesn't call "new".
#
# Post represents a single blog post.
app.factory 'Post', [ '$http', ($http) ->
class Post
# Title, Author, and Body are self-explanatory
# Persisted tells whether this instance has been saved.
constructor: (@title, @author, @body, @persisted = false) ->
# Save this post to the server.
save: ->
$http.post('/posts', title: @title, author: @author, body: @body).then =>
@persisted = true
]
@kmaraz
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kmaraz commented Dec 14, 2014

How will you Unit test your file blog.js.coffee? With Jasmine for example.

@bra1n
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bra1n commented Jan 16, 2015

I really like the idea of using Coffee classes in Services, however the way you propose it:

app.factory 'Blog', ['$http', 'Post', ($http, Post) ->
  new class Blog
    # Get all blog posts
    all: ->
      # Assume a response like:
      # { "posts": [ { "title": "Hello World", "author": "Ben Hollis", "body": "This is an example." } ] }
      $http.get('/posts').then (result) ->
        new Post(post.title, post.author, post.body, true) for post in result.data.posts

    # Create a new, empty blog post
    newPost: ->
      new Post('', '', '')
]

would be no different than if you simply left out line 27:

app.factory 'Blog', ['$http', 'Post', ($http, Post) ->
  # Get all blog posts
  all: ->
    # Assume a response like:
    # { "posts": [ { "title": "Hello World", "author": "Ben Hollis", "body": "This is an example." } ] }
    $http.get('/posts').then (result) ->
      new Post(post.title, post.author, post.body, true) for post in result.data.posts

  # Create a new, empty blog post
  newPost: ->
    new Post('', '', '')
]

Now if I am able to leave out a line without it affecting the code at all, I can't really see why I would use a class there in the first place. "Just for the sake of using a class" isn't really a good enough reason for me. :/

@bhollis
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bhollis commented May 9, 2015

@bra1n I wrote a whole blog post about my reasoning for this pattern. It's linked from this gist.

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