diff --git a/Readme.md b/Readme.md index 96d1da1..8db53fe 100644 --- a/Readme.md +++ b/Readme.md @@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ alias node='node --harmony-generators' - [Wiki](https://github.com/koajs/koa/wiki/Koa) - [G+ Community](https://plus.google.com/communities/101845768320796750641) - [Mailing list](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/koajs) + - [Guide](docs/guide.md) - [FAQ](docs/faq.md) - __#koajs__ on freenode diff --git a/docs/guide.md b/docs/guide.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..31fa6c0 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/guide.md @@ -0,0 +1,71 @@ + +## Writing Middleware + + Koa middleware are simple functions which return a `GeneratorFunction`, and accept another. When + the middleware is run by an "upstream" middleware, it must manually `yield` to the "downstream" middleware. + + For example if you wanted to track how long it takes for a request to propagate through Koa by adding an + `X-Response-Time` header field the middleware would look like the following: + +```js +function responseTime(next){ + return function *(){ + var start = new Date; + yield next; + var ms = new Date - start; + this.set('X-Response-Time', ms + 'ms'); + } +} + +app.use(responseTime); +``` + + If you're a front-end developer you can think any code before `yield next;` as the "capture" phase, + while any code after is the "bubble" phase. Here's another way to write the same thing, inline: + +```js +app.use(function(next){ + return function *(){ + var start = new Date; + yield next; + var ms = new Date - start; + this.set('X-Response-Time', ms + 'ms'); + } +}); +``` + + Next we'll look at the best practices for creating Koa middleware. + +## Middleware Best Practices + + When creating public middleware it's useful to conform to the convention of + wrapping the middleware in a function that accepts options, allowing users to + extend functionality. Even if your middleware accepts _no_ options, this is still + a good idea to keep things uniform. + + Here our contrived `logger` middleware accepts a `format` string for customization, + and returns the middleware itself: + +```js +function logger(format){ + format = format || ':method ":url"'; + + return function(next){ + return function *(){ + var str = format + .replace(':method', this.method) + .replace(':url', this.url); + + console.log(str); + + yield next; + } + } +} + +app.use(logger()); +app.use(logger(':method :url')); +``` + + +