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Cham

Quick boilerplate for setting up a basic Coffeescript driven app, with Stylus and Jade for the frontend.

How to use

  • Clone this repo
  • Copy all files to your new project
  • Check out the docs for each file at the /docs folder
  • Start hacking!

The Stack

File Structure

  • app.js: Main app file, run node app.js to start app
  • public/: Public folder, all front-end files go here
    • css
    • images
    • js
  • lib/: All backend files go here
  • test/: Where all tests are. Currently uses Vows as example
  • views/: Where all Jade templates are
  • src/: Source files, where all Coffeescript and Stylus file resides. The file structure within src/ folder mirrors the root folder, saves time trying to hunt for files
  • docs/: Docco generated documentation files

Compiling Files

There are a couple of helper functions defined within the Cakefile, which are:

cake watch                # Watches all Coffeescript(JS) and Stylus(CSS) files
cake watchJS              # Watches all coffeescript files for changes
cake watchCSS             # Watches all CSS files for changes
cake compileJS            # Compiles all Coffeescript files into JS
cake test                 # Runs all tests
cake docs                 # Create documentation using Docco

To run Cakefile remember to install coffee-script as a global module,

npm install coffee-script -g

To compile the CSS you need to install stylus as a global module too in order to run the executable:

npm install stylus -g

Then, at the root folder, just do

cake watch

And magic happens! :)

The idea behind

I love Coffeescript. No doubt to that. So everytime I start a new project I find myself doing all the same steps over and over, creating folders, copying files, installing modules, setting up Cakefile tasks and all those trivial tasks.

So I thought, why not create a template that I can use over? And then I thought, why not share it with everyone?

Cham is not meant to be a definitive guide to the universe of Express or Node.JS. It is a combination of ideas, regarding my personal approach of developing with Express and Coffeescript.

Cham is for...

  • CoffeeScript, Express, Jade and Stylus enthusiasts
  • Developers that wanted a quick base to start working with
  • Node.js beginners that want to learn more about Node.js with a more approachable example

Last words

Fellow developers, please do share with me what are your thoughts, I would love to hear from you and see how we can do better!

Trivia: "Cham" is also a Malaysian/Singaporean drink that mixes coffee, hot chocolate, tea, sugar, milk and a bunch of other stuff. It's awesome. :3