NAME

dao

SYNOPSIS

a sa-weet-ass library for structuring rails applications using the 'data
access object' design pattern.

DESCRITPION

applications that are written on dao look like this in ruby

  result = api.call('/posts/new', params)

and like this in javascript

  result = api.call('/posts/new', params)

in command-line applications they look like this

  result = api.call('/posts/new', params)

and in tests this syntax is used

  result = api.call('/posts/new', params)

when a developer wants to understand the interface of a dao application she
does this

  vi app/api.rb

when a developer of a dao application wants to play with a dao application
interactively she does

  (rails console)

  > api = Api.new
  > result = api.call('/posts/new', params)

when a remote client wants to understand the api of a dao application she
does

  curl --silent http://dao.app.com/api | less

this kind of brutally consistent interface is made possible by structuring
access to data around the finest data structure of all time - the hash.  in
the case of dao the hash is a well structured and slightly clever hash, but
a simple hash interface is the basis of every bit of goodness dao has to
offer.

in dao, application developers do not bring models into controllers and,
especially not into views.  instead, a unified interface to application
logic and data is used everywhere: in tests, in controllers, from the
command-line, and also from javascript.

this speration of concerns brings with it many, many desirable qualities:

  - total seperation of concerns between the front and back end of a web
    application.  when developers are using dao changes to the data model
    have zero effect on controllers and views.

  - issues related to having models in controllers and views such as
    difficulty reasoning about caching and n+1 queries in views killing the
    db simply disappear.

  - bad programming practices like using quasi-global variables
    (current_user) or decorating models with view specific attributes
    (password_verification) are no longer needed.

  - developers are able to reason over the abilities of an application by
    reading only a few source files.

  - databases can be swapped, mixed, or alternate storage/caching mechanisms
    added at any time without affecting the application's controllers or
    views.

  - transition from form based views to semi-ajax ones to fully-ajax ones is
    direct.

  - forms and interfaces that involve dozens of models are as easy to deal
    with as simple ones.

  - code can be optimized at the interface

wikipedia has this to say about dao in general

  "

    In computer software, a data access object (DAO) is an object that
    provides an abstract interface to some type of database or persistence
    mechanism, providing some specific operations without exposing details
    of the database.  It provides a mapping from application calls to the
    persistence layer. This isolation separates the concerns of what data
    accesses the application needs, in terms of domain-specific objects and
    data types (the public interface of the DAO), and how these needs can be
    satisfied with a specific DBMS, database schema, etc. (the
    implementation of the DAO).

  " 
    - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_access_object

READING

http://best-practice-software-engineering.ifs.tuwien.ac.at/patterns/dao.html
http://www.codefutures.com/data-access-object/
http://java.sun.com/blueprints/corej2eepatterns/Patterns/DataAccessObject.html
http://www.paperplanes.de/2010/5/7/activerecord_callbacks_ruined_my_life.html
http://google-styleguide.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/jsoncstyleguide.xml

INSTALL

gem 'dao', :path => File.expand_path('..') ### Gemfile
rails generate dao api
vim -o app/api.rb app/controllers/api_controller.rb
curl --silent http://0.0.0.0:3000/api
curl --silent http://0.0.0.0:3000/api/ping