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https://github.com/jbreckmckye/trkl

Reactive microlibrary with observables and spreadsheet-style computed values in 383 bytes
https://github.com/jbreckmckye/trkl

javascript knockout-computeds microlib observable pubsub reactive

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Reactive microlibrary with observables and spreadsheet-style computed values in 383 bytes

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README 

        
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# trkl



Reactive JavaScript programming in less than half a kilobyte.



For just a meagre **383 bytes** (minified and gzipped), you get



- observables with a pub/sub interface

- powerful Knockout.js-style computeds with proper "magical" dependency tracking

- circular reference detection

- TypeScript project support



The basic idea is to provide the most 'bang for buck' in terms of bytes down the wire versus expressiveness and utility.



My motto is: "If you can find a smaller reactive programming microlibrary... keep it to yourself"



## Give me the gist



Data is held in **Observables**, which expose pub / sub capabilities:



```javascript

const apples = trkl(2);



apples.subscribe(n => console.log(`There are ${n} apples`));



apples(7); // Prints "There are 7 apples"

```



Combine data from observables using **Computeds**, which automatically track their dependencies:



```javascript

const bananas = trkl(3);



const fruit = trkl.computed(()=> {

    return apples() + bananas();

});



fruit.subscribe(n => console.log(`There are ${n} fruit in total`));



apples(6); // Prints "There are 9 fruit in total"

```



In a nutshell: Trkl lets you create observable channels of data, and then combine them with functions to result in further observables.



## Installation



You can either drop `trkl.min.js` straight into your project, or run



```

npm install trkl --save

```



Trkl works in both CommonJS and browser environments.



**Versions**



If you need AMD support, use v1.5.1



v2+ is ES6 only; v1.x supports ES5



### Importing



Node / SystemJS: `const trkl = require('trkl');`



ES6 / TypeScript: `import * as trkl from 'trkl';`



## TypeScript support



Types are defined in `index.d.ts`.



It's assumed that the types inside observables are immutable. If you need to initialise a type-less observable use `foo = trkl(undefined as any)`;



## API



### trkl()

Creates an observable with optional supplied initial value.



```javascript

let observable = trkl('foo');

```    



### observable()



Call without arguments to get the value, call with an argument to set it.



```javascript

observable();       // getter

observable('foo');  // setter

```



### trkl.computed(fn)



Creates an observable that executes a function which calls other observables, and re-runs that function whenever those dependencies change.



If you've used Knockout computeds, you'll know exactly how these work. Here's an example:



```javascript

let a = trkl(0);

let b = trkl(0);



let c = trkl.computed(()=> {

    return a() + b();

});



c.subscribe(newVal => {

    print(`a + b = ${newVal}`);

});



a(5); // Print "a + b = 5"

b(3); // Print "a + b = 8"

```



You don't have to provide anything to computed to notify if it of your dependencies. This differs from other libraries, where you have to remember to explicitly pass in all the observables your computation depends on.



Dependencies can even be dynamic!



```javascript

const a = trkl('A');

const b = trkl('B');

const readA = trkl(true);



const reader = trkl.computed(()=> {

    return readA() ? a() : b();

});



print(reader()); // 'A'



readA(false);



print(reader()); // 'B'

```



**What about circular references?**



If we have an observable *a* that informs an computed *b*, and then we have a new computed *c* that takes the value of *b* and inserts it into *a*, we get a triangular flow of information.



Luckily, trkl will detect such instances and immediately throw an exception:



```

Error: Circular computation

```



### trkl.from(observable => {...})



Create an observable, and pass it to your supplied function. That function may then set up event handlers to change the observable's state.



For instance, to create an observable that tracks the x/y coordinates of user clicks:



```javascript

const clicks = trkl.from(observable => {

    window.addEventListener('click', e => {

        const coordinates = {x: e.clientX, y: e.clientY};

        observable(coordinates);

    });

});



clicks.subscribe(coordinates => console.log(coordinates));

```



Every time the user clicks, clicks is updated with the latest coordinates.



### observable.subscribe(fn, ?immediate)



When an observable's value changes, pass its new and old values to the supplied subscriber.



```javascript

let numbers = trkl(1);

numbers.subscribe((newVal, oldVal) => {

    console.log('The observable was changed from', oldVal, 'to', newVal);

});



numbers(2); // console outputs 'The observable was changed from 1 to 2'

```    



If you pass the same subscriber multiple times, it will be de-duplicated, and only run once. 



If you pass a truthy value to `immediate`, the subscriber will also run immediately.



A subscription can safely mutate the observable's subscriber list (e.g. a subscriber can remove itself)



#### How updates are deduplicated



Note that Trkl will only filter out duplicate updates if the values are primitives, not objects or arrays. Why? Well, if you have two objects or arrays, you can only tell if their values have changed by recursively inspecting the whole tree of their properties. This would be expensive, and could lead us into circular inspections, so for performance and size reasons we don't bother.



If you really need to filter out duplicates, you could always do



```javascript

const filter = trkl.from(observer => {

  source.subscribe((newVal, oldVal) => {

    if (newVal.length && (newVal.length !== oldVal.length)) {

      observer(newVal);

    } else if (JSON.stringify(newVal) !== JSON.stringify(oldVal)) {

      observer(newVal);

    }

  });

});

```



This will only work if your objects / arrays are JSON-serializable, though.



### observable.unsubscribe(fn)



Remove the specified function as a subscriber.



## React hooks example



You can easily make a stateful hook out of a Trkl observable. Use this to create a 'global' state hook:



```typescript

import { useState, useEffect } from 'react';



const greeting = trkl('hello');



export function useGreeting() {

  const [ state, setState ] = useState(greeting());



  useEffect(() => {

    greeting.subscribe(setState)



    return () => greeting.unsubscribe(setState); // works fine as the setState function is stable between renders :-)

  }, []);



  return [ state, greeting ];

}

```



## Why 'trkl'?



Because it's like a stream, except smaller (a 'trickle'), except even smaller than that ('trkl').