Architecture overview

With Fa, you can work at three different levels:

  • Standalone file: A standalone file is a single file that you can run directly.
  • Package: A package is a collection of files that are related to each other.
  • Project: A project is a collection of packages that are related to each other.

Standalone files

Standalone files are the simplest form of Fa code. They are single files that you can run directly.

You can run a standalone file with the following command:

fa run myFile.fa  # <-- don't forget the .fa extension
fa build myFile.fa --target=native  # <-- compile the file

In standalone files, there is no implicit import system. You need to explicitly import the code you need.

use ./mySiblingFile.fa
use ../myParentFile.fa
use ../../myGrandParentFile.fa

Standalone files are useful for:

  • Writing one-off scripts
  • Writing small programs
  • Playing around with ideas
  • Learning Fa

Packages

Standalone files are great, but when your project grows, you'll need a way to organize your code. This is where packages come in.

A package is a directory that contains a package.fab file, and optionally:

  • a dependencies.fa file,
  • a library/ directory,
  • an application/ directory,
  • a scripts/ directory.

A package can be a library or an application.

When working with packages, you can use the following commands:

fa develop  # <-- start a development server with hot reloading
fa test  # <-- run the tests
fa build  # <-- compile the package (for applications only)
fa preview  # <-- preview the package (for applications only)

To scaffold a new package, you can use the following command:

fa new package

Projects

A project is a collection of packages that are related to each other. Projects are useful for building multiple applications that are closely related. It makes sharing code between your libraries and applications easy.

A project is a directory containing a project.fab file. A project will also contain a packages/ directory, which contains the packages for the project.

To scaffold a new project, you can use the following command:

fa new project

When working with projects, you will use the same commands as when working with packages. The commands will be executed for every package that implements them.

fa develop  # <-- start a development server with hot reloading for all packages
fa test  # <-- run the tests for all packages
fa build  # <-- compile all *application* packages (for applications only)

You can also run commands on a specific package:

fa develop myPackage  # <-- start a development server with hot reloading for myPackage
fa test myPackage  # <-- run the tests for myPackage
fa build myPackage  # <-- compile myPackage (for applications only)
fa preview myPackage  # <-- preview myPackage (for applications only)
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