A very composable architecture

[keasy9]

I started to building with framework X. My current micro-goal - make facade for adding routes, like:

Router::get('/', ...);
Router::post('/users', ...);

To do this I need to add RouteCollector to container. I can't do it after app is Initialized, because App::$router is private. And because Container has no add method. And I cant extend class to add it because Container::$loader is private.

So maybe I can swap whole RouteCollector? Of cource not. Why?
Because App::__construct makes new one, not matters is it in container already or not (actually App::__construct makes RouteHandler, which makes RouteCollector in its constructor). And I cant extend it and redeclare $router because (again) App::$router is private.

So, I need to replace whole container (make +1 dependency in composer) to just getting RouteCollector inside it in clearly way. Or I am missing something?

[clue]

@keasy9 Good question!

Before going down the composition path, same question as in #211: what does Router::get(...) buy you over the built-in form?

$app = new FrameworkX\App();
$app->get('/', …);
$app->post('/users', …);

Routes from places without $app? Splitting across files? Matching another framework's style? Usually there's a much simpler path once the motivation is clear. Would love to continue this conversation in #211 so we can work on improving on our APIs.

On the internals: you're not missing anything. App, Container and RouteHandler / RouteCollector are intentionally closed, so in v0.17 replacing the Container really is the only way in. The good news is this gets much easier in upcoming v0.18: #291 (already merged) lets you inject a RouteHandler into App or resolve it from the Container. This should make it much easier to inject a custom instance for more specific use cases. Not the RouteCollector directly yet, but a much better starting point.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if this solves your use case and also curious to hear more about what you're building 👍