YAML-based micro chat with Sinatra¶ ↑

About¶ ↑

This mini-application demonstrates the elegance and power of the Ruby language, the Sinatra micro-framework and the Protoype JavaScript library.

It consists of six files for every essential aspect of the application:

• The chat.rb file, which holds the application logic (loading and saving the messages)

• The index.html file, which defines the GUI of the application

• The screen.css which defines the visual style of the application

• The aplication.js (and prototype.js) files which enable rich interactivity (continuous updating and instant posting)

• The messages.yml file which holds the data in YAML format (rename the messages.example file)

The layers are thus properly separated even in this micro-application. It degrades finely for browsers without JavaScript enabled.

It even features simplistic Unit tests for the application (see test directory)

Installation¶ ↑

Unpack the application, rename messages.example to messages.yml and run

ruby chat.rb

in the application directory in the console. You will see something like:

== Sinatra has taken the stage on port 4567!

Then point your browser to:

http://localhost:4567

Resources¶ ↑

• Sinatra micro-framework: sinatra.rubyforge.org

• Prototype JavaScript library: www.prototypejs.org/

• Unobtrusive JavaScript: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unobtrusive_JavaScript

Credits¶ ↑

The application was created by Karel Minařík (www.karmi.cz)