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https://github.com/tylerlong/kickstart

Kick start a project by generating code according to boilerplate.
https://github.com/tylerlong/kickstart

boilerplate generator kick-start kickstart scaffolding yeoman

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Kick start a project by generating code according to boilerplate.

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README 

        
# kickstart



Kick start a project by generating code according to template. Defined a template project and reuse it again and again to kick start new projects. All kinds of projects are supported no matter what programming languages they use.



It's a much simpler alternative to [Yeoman](http://yeoman.io/).



### [Awesome kickstart](https://github.com/tylerlong/awesome-kickstart)



## Install



```

yarn global add kickstart-cli

```



## Usage



```

ks -k kickstart-project -o output-directory

```



A new project will be created at `output-directory`, using `kickstart-project` as template.



`-o output-directory` is optional. By default it is `.`, a.k.a. the current directory.



## Features



- Support projects in all programming languages.

- Support any project to be used as template, even they are not created for scaffolding purpose.

- Support templating, thanks to [nunjucks](https://mozilla.github.io/nunjucks/templating.html).



## Why?



Lots of projects look similar. For example, when I start a new JavaScript projects, I always created the following files: `README.md`, `package.json`, `.gitignore`, `.editorconfig`, `.babelrc`...etc.



I wanted a command line utility to create those files for me. I checked the popular [Yeoman](http://yeoman.io/) project but failed to comprehend its authoring workflow. I decided to create a new tool which is both flexible and straightforward.



## Q & A



- Is kickstart for JavaScript projects only?

    - Nope, it is for all kinds of projects no matter what programming languages they use.

- Does kickstart support template projects with nested directory structure?

    - Yes. Template project can have deeply nested directory strucutre.

- What's the main differences between Yeoman and kickstart?

    - A template project for Yeoman (they call it a generator project) must be a Node.js module. Kickstart doesn't have this requirement.

        - Yeoman could generate projects for all kinds of languages but the template/generator project must be Node based. So developers who don't write JavaScript might have difficulty authoring a template/generator project.

    - Kickstart is much simpler than Yeoman. On the other hand, it doesn't have as many features as Yeoman. Kickstart is pretty new and it is still under development.

- Why is kickstart better than `cp -r source-project target-directory` ?

    - kickstart won't copy `.git/`

    - kickstart won't copy files/directories specified in `.gitignore`

    - kickstart supports configuration and templating.



## How it works



First of all, ask yourself: do I or my users create similar projects again and again? If the answer is no, you probably don't need kickstart and you can stop reading on.



If the answer is yes, create a template project for those similar projects to abstract the things that they have in common. For strings that each project might have a different value, define them as `{{ variable }}`.



For example, I can define a template for JavaScript projects with the following directory structure:



```

kickstart-javascript

    - README.md

    - package.json

    - .gitignore

    - kickstart.yml

```



Please note that, a template project usually has a `kickstart.yml` file in its root directory. If no `kickstart.yml` file is found, an empty one will be used instead. Thus allows any project to be used as a template project.



A sample `package.json` file:



```json

{

  "name": "{{ name }}",

  "version": "{{ version }}",

  "license": "{{ license }}",

}

```



A sample `kickstart.yml` file:



```yml

name: my-app

version: 0.1.0

license: MIT

```



Run the following command to generate a new project:



```

mkdir my-awesome-project && cd my-awesome-project

ks -k /path/to/kickstart-javascript/

```



The generated project:



```

my-awesome-project

    - README.md

    - package.json

    - .gitignore

```



Generated `package.json` file has the following content:



```json

{

  "name": "my-app",

  "version": "0.1.0",

  "license": "MIT",

}

```



You can also edit the `kickstart.yml` file as below before executing the `ks` command:



```yml

name: cool-project

version: 0.2.0

license: MIT

```



In such case the generated `package.json` file is:



```json

{

  "name": "cool-project",

  "version": "0.2.0",

  "license": "MIT",

}

```



## Advanced templating



[Nunjucks](https://github.com/mozilla/nunjucks) is the underlying templating engine.



You can use some of its [adanvaced features](https://mozilla.github.io/nunjucks/templating.html). Sample:



`kickstart.yml`:



```yml

food:

  ketchup: 5 tbsp

  mustard: 1 tbsp

  pickle: 0 tbsp

```



Template:



```

{% for ingredient, amount in food %}

  Use {{ amount }} of {{ ingredient }}

{% endfor %}

```



### Templating in directory/file name



You can use templating in directory/file name.



For example:



```

src/{{ serviceName }}/handler.js

```



### Comments



You can write comments as `{# comments #}` which will be omitted when generating code.



## Todo



- Each template project must be a runnable project itself

- Toml + regex as config file

    - Just use string match, no regex

    - Then how to support `if`, `for`...etc?

        - Can we give up these adavanced templating features?

            - Then no more `nunjucks`