mirror of
https://github.com/kikito/middleclass.git
synced 2024-12-11 19:44:24 +00:00
91 lines
4.0 KiB
Plaintext
91 lines
4.0 KiB
Plaintext
|
h1. MiddleClass
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Lua OOP classes usually end being:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
* multi-file libraries, too difficult to understand
|
||
|
|
* very small libraries, not very powerful
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Middleclass attemps to be a mid-sized library (~120 lines of code, on a single file), with clean, easy to understand code, and yet powerful enough to be used in most cases.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
h1. Documentation
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
See the "github wiki page":https://github.com/kikito/middleclass/wiki for examples & documentation.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
h1. Features
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
* ~120 lines of code
|
||
|
|
* top-level Object class
|
||
|
|
* all methods are virtual
|
||
|
|
* instance.class returns the instance's class
|
||
|
|
* @Class.name@ returns the class name (a string)
|
||
|
|
* @Class.superclass@ returns its super class
|
||
|
|
* Subclassing:
|
||
|
|
** @class(name)@ creates a subclass of @Object@
|
||
|
|
** @class(name, Superclass)@ creates a subclass of the class @SuperClass@
|
||
|
|
** @SuperClass:subclass(name)@ also creates a subclass of the class @SuperClass@
|
||
|
|
* Instantiation:
|
||
|
|
** Classes can define an @initialize@ method for initializing new instances. They can accept an arbitrary number of params.
|
||
|
|
** Instances are created by doing @Class:new(params)@ or also @Class(params)@
|
||
|
|
** SuperClass' methods can be used by using this syntax: @SuperClass.initialize(self, params)@.
|
||
|
|
* support for Lua metamethods: just define a method called @__tostring@, @__add@, etc. and your instances will be able to use it.
|
||
|
|
* Mixins:
|
||
|
|
** A very simple mechanism for sharing functionality among a group of classes that are otherwise non-related.
|
||
|
|
** Mixins are just simple lua tables with functions inside them.
|
||
|
|
** @Class:include(mixin)@ will copy the function definitions of @mixin@ to @class@
|
||
|
|
** If @mixin@ contains a function, called @included@, that function will be invoked right after the functions have been copied. It allows for modifying the class more profoundly.
|
||
|
|
* The function @instanceOf(class, instance)@ returns @true@ if @instance@ is an instance of the class @Class@
|
||
|
|
* The function @subclassOf(Superclass, Class)@ returns @true@ if @Class@ is a subclass of @SuperClass@
|
||
|
|
* The function @includes(mixin, Class)@ returns @true@ if @Class@ (or one of its superclasses) includes @mixin@.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Features left out:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
* metaclasses
|
||
|
|
* classes are not Objects (instances are)
|
||
|
|
* simulating a 'super' keyword (for performance concerns)
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
h1. Installation using git (recommended)
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
The easiest way is creating a clone using git:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<pre>git clone git://github.com/kikito/middleclass.git</pre>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
This will create a folder called @middleclass@. You can require it using:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<pre>require 'middleclass.init'</pre>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
If you have @?/init.lua@ included in your @package.path@ variable, you can remove the @.init@ part.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
If you ever want to update middleclass, you can use the following commands:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<pre>cd your/path/to/middleclass
|
||
|
|
git pull origin master</pre>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Git will automatically update middleclass for you.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
h1. Manual download
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Middleclass can be directly downloaded using "the github downloader":https://github.com/kikito/middleclass/archives/master
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
You will not be able to get automatic updates with that method, but your folder size will be smaller.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
As an alternative, you can directly download "middleclass.lua":https://github.com/kikito/middleclass/raw/master/middleclass.lua and "BSD-LICENSE.txt":https://github.com/kikito/middleclass/raw/master/BSD-LICENSE.txt and put them in your project.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
In that case, you will have to require it doing something like this (will vary if you put middleclass.lua inside a folder):
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<pre>require 'middleclass'</pre>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
(This assumes you have @?.lua@ in your @package.path@, which is the default)
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
You will have to put BSD-LICENSE.txt somewhere in your folder, or copy-paste it inside of your own license.txt file.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
h1. middleclass-extras
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
This library has a companion lib that adds a lot of interesting functionality to your objects. Give it a look at "middleclass-extras":https://github.com/kikito/middleclass-extras
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
If you are looking for @MindState@ (now called @Stateful@), it's over there, too.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
h1. Specs
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
You may find the specs for this library in "middleclass-specs":https://github.com/kikito/middleclass-specs
|
||
|
|
|