Docs
Documentation is the key to successful learning of a new technology and furthermore then to master it. For The-M-Project, there are several resources of documentation, just because each of them has a different goal. For example, the JSDoc reference shows you a deep, naked view on the several objects that belong to The-M-Project. That’s cool to know if you’re an intermediate The-M-Project programmer, but for starters it’s not the first place they should look – therefore we’ve got The-M-Docs. The next few paragraphs give you an overview of the different types of documentation for The-M-Project.
The-M-Docs
The-M-Docs are the most important resource for The-M-Project developers. Here, all components that you interact with are described. Each view has an own page, where it’s methods, properties and usage is described. Also key features like MVC or content binding are described and their implementation is shown.
Here’s the topics that The-M-Docs cover:
- Introduction: What is The-M-Project? What is Espresso?
- Tutorials: E.g. How to make a request, how to write a ToDos app, …
- Core Concepts: MVC, ContentBinding, Dynamic Value Computing, Event Handling
- Utilities: E.g. M.Date, M.I18N, M.Math, …
- Components: E.g. M.Controller, M.Request, M.ViewManager
- Views: E.g. M.LabelView, M.ButtonView, M.AlertDialogView, M.SelectionListView, …
Just visit The-M-Docs and read through it. There’s a lot to learn!
JSDoc Reference
While The-M-Docs is the general documentation of The-M-Project, our JSDoc Reference is a guide for developers who want to dig deeper in the actual framework code, e.g. also to adjust things to their certain need. This documentation shows the framework naked and behind the scenes, as a direct representation of the source code comments. It’s a reference of all objects that are part of the framework, such as M.LabelView or M.DataProviderLocalStorage. In it, like in every other reference you know (e.g. a JavaDoc reference) there’s a short summary of the object’s purpose, and a list and description of its properties and methods. Also, prototype relations and as a result of this, the properties and methods of the object’s prototype are shown.
Just visit the reference and take a look.
Google Groups - Mailing List
Professional help is near: in our Google Groups Mailing List, you’re able to write down your problems and other developers are able to help you. This kind of support has been provided a lot of time since our release in January 2011 and the feedback time is usually very short. By writing down your problem in our group and also documenting the solution to it there, a very dynamic documentation and best practise collection grows. And the best of it: it’s not only you participating from it – it’s all developers that are using The-M-Project. They all get first hand advices from the developers to solve a problem. That’s why it’s a very cool and dynamically growing documenation – from developers, for developers. Besides that, it’s also a great place for discussions about the future of the framework.
Got a question? Just write it down in our group. Help is near!
The-M-Blog
Besides publishing product news, call for contributions and release announcements, our blog is mainly used by the team for writing down best practises that evolve in our daily work with the framework.
There’s articles on how to work with PhoneGap or how to write a custom view and use it. Check it regularily, it’s worth a reading.
Twitter is your friend here: we’re always announcing new blog posts via our Twitter account: _themproject. For sure, there’s also a RSS feed.
Check our blog and read stories from the core team.
The-M-Project Sample Apps
Not only a few developers say: “The best documentation is the source code itself.” There’s some truth in it and that’s why we’re presenting our Sample Apps here as a form of documentation. The-M-Project Sample Apps are a collection of basic apps that fulfill a certain task. And therefor they are an ideal place to look into when you need to develop this certain task also. But besides that, it’s also a good place to see the general structure of an TMP app and you get a feeling of the syntax. The apps are all runable in a browser on your desktop or your mobile phone and include apps like the following:
- KitchenSink The overview app: This app describes views and basic concepts – it’s a documenation being transformed into an app. It’s a must-do to check it out.
- MapSample A sample app showing the usage of the MapView and the Geolocation utility included in the framework.
- ToDosThe classic example: an app for managing your ToDos. It’s multilangual and totally offline capable: great example for these features
- TwitterA little Twitter client written with the framework and accessing the public Twitter API. Shows the usage of requests and List Views.
- … and much more
The sample apps are lying in an own repository on GitHub. Just clone them! To see some of them in action, also see our showcase.