atab

1.6.1 • Public • Published

Transitional App Builder (TAB)

Transitional App Builder, also referred to as A Transitional App Builder (atab), is a modern reimagining of how a framework can be used to build and manage web based projects: web applications and websites. This means multi-page applications (MPA), single-page applications (SPA), and progressive web applications (PWA). You should consider using TAB if:

✔️  Your project is primarily a static website or application.

✔️  You want a lightweight easy to use templating framework when other tools would just be overkill or unnecessary.

✔️  You want to build a SPA or MPA fast.

✔️  You prefer to develop in vanilla languages; HTML, CSS (less or sass), and JavaScript.

✔️  Your project is highly dynamic and you are conformable managing SPA or PWA on your own; or you have a tool in mind that would work well with TAB.

Installation & Usage

Pre-Installation

TAB is a Node based application that is installed through the Node Package Manager (NPM) instead of with an application package or executable. You will need a minimum Node version of 14.18.1 for TAB to install and operate correctly on your machine. Node version 16.13.0 or greater is preferred.

Installation

TAB can be installed globally (recommended) or locally to a specific project. For a global install run the following command from your terminal:

npm install atab -g

For a local install you should setup your projects directory first and then add TAB as a development dependency. Open a terminal at your projects location and run the following commands:

npm init
npm install atab --save-dev

Usage

TAB should always be run with npx – the Node Package Execute binary – from your projects root directory. Open a terminal at your projects root to run the following commands:

Print the Manual

npx atab man
// or
npx atab --help

Initialize a new TAB Project

npx atab init
or
npm atab install

NOTE: New installations of TAB start with a few demo files. Use the next command to see TAB in action.

Start the TAB Server / Auto Compiler

npx atab watch
// or
npx atab serve

Compile (Build) Your Project

// This does a one time compile and does not start the TAB server or auto compiler.
npx atab compile
// or
npx atab build

Release a new Version of Your Project
(Coming Soon)

This will run compile and then package the build in a zip folder for you.

The TAB Manifesto

TAB was created because I saw a need for a simple lightweight framework that could do three things:

  1. Encourage rising developers to learn more about languages and less about tooling.
  2. Improve development time and morale for small teams or solo developers.
  3. Encourage using the best tool instead of a familiar tool for a given project.

Please read the full manifesto if you would like to know more – I have a lot to say – and visit the documentation website for a live demonstration of TAB. (Coming Soon)

Changelog

The current changelog is here. All other changelogs are here.

Contributions

TAB is an open source community supported project, if you would like to help please consider tackling an issue or making a donation to keep the project alive.

Package Sidebar

Install

npm i atab

Weekly Downloads

1

Version

1.6.1

License

MIT

Unpacked Size

74.7 kB

Total Files

25

Last publish

Collaborators

  • blizzardengle