Squatting::On::Catalyst

Squatting is a web microframework for Perl that's based on Camping from the
Ruby world.  During the transition from Ruby to Perl, Squatting gained some
mutant powers which is why I'm writing to you today.

One of Squatting's mutant powers is its ability to embed itself into other
frameworks (like Catalyst).  You can take whole Squatting apps, and embed them
into your existing web application with just a few lines of glue code.  Allow
me to demonstrate.


STEP 1:  Install Pod::Server from CPAN.

  $ sudo cpan Pod::Server



STEP 2:  Run Pod::Server so you can see what it looks like.

  $ squatting Pod::Server -p 8088

    or

  $ pod_server

Then, visit http://localhost:8088/ and pay attention to the URLs as you
click around.  (This will be interesting when you see how the URLs of 
the whole site will be "relocated" later on in the demonstration.)



STEP 3:  Create a Catalyst application.

  $ catalyst.pl Propaganda



STEP 4:  Embed Pod::Server into the Catalyst application.

  $ cd Propaganda
  $ $EDITOR lib/Propaganda/Controller/Root.pm

Then, add the following lines of code to an appropriate place in the
controller.

  use Pod::Server ’On::Catalyst’;
  Pod::Server->init;
  Pod::Server->relocate(’/pod’);
  $Pod::Simple::HTML::Perldoc_URL_Prefix = ’/pod/’;
  sub pod : Local { Pod::Server->catalyze($_[1]) }



STEP 5: Start up the Catalyst application.

  $ script/propaganda_server.pl

Finally, visit http://localhost:3000/pod/ .  If everything worked, you should
see that Pod::Server has just been embedded into a Catalyst application.



What Are The Implications of This?

Right now, anyone who is developing a web app with Catalyst can install
Pod::Server from CPAN and embed it directly into their web app.  However,
this is just the beginning.

Imagine if you could install a blog, a wiki, a forum, or a store just as
easily.

Imagine adding major functionality to any Perl-based site with ~5 lines of
code.

Squatting makes modular web applications both possible and probable.

http://search.cpan.org/dist/Squatting/

http://github.com/beppu/squatting/tree/master

