Introduction to Ember.js

What is Ember.js?

Ember uses the convention over configuration software design paradigm, which essentially means that the application’s building blocks should fit together without being explicitly specified by the developer.

Why should we use Ember.js?

Ember is a comprehensive solution to build client-side applications. Companies like Microsoft, LinkedIn, Netflix, and Heroku use Ember for their client-side operations.

Ember tools

• Ember CLI: This is the command-line tool for Ember. It helps us to initialize projects, create boilerplate files, and host web applications on our local machines.

• Ember Data: This is a data management system for Ember. It helps us manage data on the client side and communicate with the server.

There are many other addons for Ember as well. Ember’s code organization and reusable components save us a lot of useful time because we don’t have to keep writing that code ourselves. Ember isn’t a monolithic code framework. It provides a comprehensive solution by blending multiple JavaScript libraries for different functionalities. For example, Glimmer is used to provide a view layer, router.js provides routing, and Backburner is used to manage the run loop.

Ember as an opinionated framework

Ember is a highly opinionated framework. There’s a suitable place for each piece of code, and there’s a best practice for each task. This opinionated nature makes Ember very organized and allows developers to spend their time writing robust, flexible, and well-tested code. Developers stay focused on the particular problems that their application addresses, whether it’s enhancing the user experience or solving business logic problems.

The following are some opinions built into Ember.

Convention over configuration

Ember follows the convention over configuration software design paradigm and so eases the software development process. Routes, templates, and controllers—the primary building blocks of an Ember application—are held together by naming schemas.

More functionality with minimal code

Ember eliminates the need for developers to write code that the framework can deduce itself. For example, it can generate different building blocks with just one command on the fly. The Ember CLI provides us with the ember generate <component> <component-name> command. For example, to create a route in Ember, we can run the command below:

$ ember generate route Cart

This command generates the route file, template, and unit test file for Cart. It also adds the route to the router.

The rule of least power

Ember follows the rule of least power recommended by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). It states that the least powerful language should be chosen to solve a given problem. As an example of this principle in practice, Ember templates are written in the Handlebars language, which provides a constrained set of helpers. It also bars us from using JavaScript directly in templates.

Core concepts of Ember

We need to understand the following essential Ember concepts to get started:

• Templates: Templates describe the user interface of our application. Ember uses Handlebars syntax to describe the dynamic UI elements.

• Components: Ember components are used to create reusable content. Components are made up of two parts: a JavaScript file that describes the behavior of that component and a Handlebars template that defines the component’s user interface. We can break our template into smaller components because it helps us organize our code better.

• Routes: Routes are responsible for loading controllers and templates. In response to a change in a route, related templates and controllers are loaded. For example, in educative.io/learn, the /learn is a route.

• Controllers: A controller is a routable object paired with an individual route with the same name. The controller receives a single property model, from the route.

• Models: Models, also known as Ember Data models, represent the underlying data that our application presents to the user. Note that these models differ from the model from the route.

We’ll cover each of the concepts mentioned above in extensive detail in their respective chapters.