Vortex

“Be industrious, let thine eyes be open, lest you become a beggar, for the man that is idle cometh not to honor.” – Muata Ashby

Vortex is a lightweight, unopinionated front-end framework inspired by React and Next.js. It provides a Data Binding-based state management solution through a reactive system called Pulses, and a simple client-side router, making it ideal for modern web development.

Key Features

• Virtual DOM Rendering: Efficiently converts virtual nodes (VNode) to actual DOM elements, minimizing re-renders and improving performance.
• State Management: Pulse-based reactivity system to handle state updates with minimal boilerplate.
• Routing: Simple client-side routing with dynamic page imports, similar to Next.js.
• Event Management: Utility functions for handling DOM events in a clean and structured way.

Installation

Start a new Vortex project using npx:

npx @akhaled01/vortex my-app
cd my-app
npm install
npm run dev

DOM Rendering

Vortex handles components in a way that's similar to React. Below is an example that demonstrates how to manage a to-do item:

export const todoItemTemplate = (todo: Todo): VNode => {
  const activeTodos = pulseRegistry.get("active-todo-list");
  const completedTodos = pulseRegistry.get("completed-todo-list");
  const mainTodos = pulseRegistry.get("main-todo-list");

  return (
    <div className={`todo-item${todo.completed ? " completed" : ""}`}>
      <input
        type="checkbox"
        checked={todo.completed}
        onChange={() => todo.toggleComplete()}
        className="todo-checkbox"
      />
      <span
        className="todo-title"
        onClick={() => {
          const newTitle = prompt("Enter new todo title");
          if (newTitle) {
            const todoList = activeTodos.get().concat(completedTodos.get());
            const todoIndex = todoList.findIndex((t: Todo) => t.id === todo.id);
            todoList[todoIndex].title = newTitle;

            if (todo.completed) {
              completedTodos.set(todoList.filter((t) => t.completed));
            } else {
              activeTodos.set(todoList.filter((t) => !t.completed));
            }
          }
        }}
      >
        {todo.title}
      </span>
      <button
        className="delete-btn"
        onClick={() => {
          if (todo.completed) {
            const todoIndex = completedTodos.get().findIndex((t: Todo) => t.id === todo.id);
            completedTodos.removeItem(todoIndex);
            mainTodos.set(completedTodos.get());
          } else {
            const todoIndex = activeTodos.get().findIndex((t: Todo) => t.id === todo.id);
            activeTodos.removeItem(todoIndex);
            mainTodos.set(activeTodos.get());
          }
        }}
      >
        Delete
      </button>
    </div>
  );
};

The structure closely mimics React’s component system thanks to Vortex's createElement and render functions. You can extend or modify them to handle custom bindings in your app. These functions are located in core/DOM/render.

Routing

Vortex comes with a simple router system. To define routes, create folders and add page.tsx files inside them.

Example folder structure:

app
├── page.tsx -> maps to `/`
└── todo
    └── page.tsx -> maps to `/todo`

Inside each page.tsx, define a Page functional component (similar to React) and export it as the default.

Note:

• Dynamic URL handling is coming in v1.1.
• If there is a corresponding CSS file like todo.css, it will automatically be applied to /todo.
• Tailwind CSS support will be added soon.

Pulses

The Pulse class powers state management in Vortex through a reactive system that tracks changes using proxies.

Constructor

constructor(
  initialValue: T,
  id: string,
  template?: (data: T, index?: number, pulseID?: string) => VNode
)

• initialValue: Initial state of the data (object or array).
• id: A unique identifier for the Pulse instance (UUID preferred).
• template: A function that defines how data should be rendered as a VNode. It also re-renders the UI when data changes.

Methods

• set(newValue: T): void
  Updates the Pulse instance with a new value, triggering a re-render.

• get(): T
  Returns the current state of the reactive data.

• subscribe(listener: (value: T) => void): () => void
  Adds a listener to observe data changes. Returns an unsubscribe function.

• attachTo(element: HTMLElement): void
  Binds the Pulse instance to a DOM element and performs an initial render.

• performDOMRender(): void
  Triggers a manual re-render using the current value and template function.

Array-Specific Methods:

• addItem(item: any): void
  Adds a new item to the Pulse array and updates the DOM.

• removeItem(index: number): void
  Removes an item from the array by index and updates the DOM.

• updateItem(index: number, newValue: any): void
  Updates an item at the specified index and refreshes the DOM.

Generating a Pulse

To create a new Pulse instance:

genPulse<T extends object | Array<any>>(
  initialValue: T,
  id: string,
  template?: (data: T, index?: number, pulseID?: string) => VNode
): Pulse<T>

Example:

const myPulse = genPulse<{ name: string }>({ name: "John Doe" }, "user-pulse");
myPulse.attachTo(document.getElementById("user-info"));

Event Management with Signals

Vortex provides utility functions for managing events on Document and HTMLElement objects.

import { Signal } from "Core/signal";

// Listening to events
Signal.listen(document, "click", (event) => {
  console.log("Document was clicked!");
});

// Triggering events
Signal.trigger(document, "customEvent");

Event Listener Extensions

Vortex extends HTMLElement and Document prototypes with the following utility methods:

• listen(eventType, callback)
  Adds an event listener to an element.

• listenMultiple(eventTypes, callback)
  Adds multiple event listeners to an element.

• trigger(eventType)
  Triggers a custom event.

Example:

document.listen("click", () => console.log("Document clicked!"));

Roadmap

• Dynamic URL Handling: Coming in v1.1.
• Tailwind CSS Support: Coming soon.

Stay tuned for more updates as Vortex continues to evolve!