pointfreeco

Introduction to PointFree

PointFree is an innovative website dedicated to exploring advanced programming topics in Swift, through an engaging video series format. The project, hosted at www.pointfree.co, provides developers with a deep dive into Swift programming paradigms and contemporary coding practices.

Project Structure

The PointFree project is meticulously structured into three primary components, each serving a distinct purpose:

• PointFree Core Application: This is the heart of the project. It manages routing requests, handling data, and rendering HTML/CSS to present a seamless user interface and experience.

• Styleguide: Ensuring a consistent design across the website, this library offers various functions and data types dedicated to maintaining visual and functional unity.

• Server: The backend power of the site, this server uses Swift NIO for low-level server management, delegating other responsibilities to the PointFree package.

Getting Started

Getting involved with PointFree is straightforward. The repository contains a comprehensive test suite and several playgrounds for experimental coding. Here's a quick setup guide:

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/pointfreeco/pointfreeco.git
   cd pointfreeco
   

2. Install necessary tools:

   • Use Homebrew to install cmark and Postgres, and ensure Postgres is running as it acts as the database backbone for the project:

     brew install cmark postgres
     brew services start postgresql
     make db
     

3. Run the server locally:

   • Open the project in Xcode, select the Server target, and run Command+R to start the local server at http://localhost:8080.

Features and Exploration

The PointFree repository is rich with experimental features and tools:

• Web Development in Playgrounds: Uniquely, PointFree allows the development of web pages in Playgrounds, creating a continuous feedback loop by employing pure functions with minimal side effects.

• Snapshot Testing: This feature captures entire data structures to ensure accuracy. Developers can take snapshots of web pages at different sizes (e.g., iPhone, desktop) or test full request-response lifecycles.

Related Projects and Contributions

PointFree is built on a foundation of robust open-source projects such as:

• swift-html: A system enabling type-safe and transformable HTML document creation.
• swift-web: A toolkit for standard web server challenges like middleware and CSS preprocessing.
• swift-prelude: Offers experimental functional programming utilities in Swift.
• swift-tagged: Facilitates strong data contracts and boundaries, crucial for JSON data handling.
• swift-snapshot-testing: Strengthens the testing protocol by ensuring the reliability of middleware and web page outputs.

Community and Further Learning

PointFree is more than just a codebase; it’s a community of Swift enthusiasts. Developers can watch talks like Brandon’s presentation at Swift Summit 2017 to gain insights into the core ideas driving the project.

For those intrigued by the workings of PointFree, the website itself and the accompanying open-source projects offer a wealth of learning and exploration opportunities.

Licensing

The project's content is released under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license, while the underlying code is available under the MIT license, ensuring both openness and secure usage for developers.

Discover and participate in this vibrant Swift community at Point-Free!