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Installation

Meet Formidable​

Formidable (or formidablejs) is a Laravel inspired API framework for building backend applications. It uses Imba and supports JavaScript and TypeScript, meaning you don't have to completely ditch your favorite languages while getting up to speed with Imba.

Formidable uses Fastify under the hood.

Your First Formidable Project​

Prerequisites​

Please make sure that Node.js (>= 14.*) is installed on your operating system.

Tooling​

For a better development experience, we recommend using the following tools:

  1. VS Code - A free and open source code editor for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
  2. Imba Extension - VS Code Language support for Imba.
  3. Imba Shell - Interactive debugger, REPL and runtime for Imba, inspired by PsySH.

Installation​

You may create a new Formidable project by using the Formidable Installer. After the application has been created, you may start Formidable's local development server using the start:dev script:

npm i -g @formidablejs/installer

formidable new example-app

cd example-app

npm run start:dev

For convenience, the Formidable installer can also create a Git repository for your new project. To indicate that you want a Git repository to be created, pass the --git flag when creating a new project:

formidable new example-app --git

This command will initialize a new Git repository for your project.

Initial Configuration​

All of the configuration files for the Formidable framework are stored in the config directory. Each option is documented, so feel free to look through the files and get familiar with the options available to you.

Environment Based Configuration​

Since many of Formidable's configuration option values may vary depending on whether your application is running on your local computer or on a production web server, many important configuration values are defined using the .env file that exists at the root of your application.

Your .env file should not be committed to your application's source control, since each developer / server using your application could require a different environment configuration. Furthermore, this would be a security risk in the event an intruder gains access to your source control repository, since any sensitive credentials would get exposed.

Next Steps​

Formidable The API Backend​

Formidable may serve as an API backend to a JavaScript single-page application or mobile application. For example, you might use Formidable as an API backend for your Vue.js SPA application. In this context, you may use Formidable to provide authentication and data storage / retrieval for your application.

Formidable The Full Stack Framework​

Formidable may also serve as a full stack framework. By "full stack" framework we mean that you are going to use Formidable to route requests to your application and render your frontend via Imba views or using a single-page application hybrid technology like Inertia.js.