Getting started with Lift

[therac25]

Hello List,

I am thinking of using Lift to develop a web app prototype for my
employer.
I would like to ask you what is a simple path to get started ?
So far I have looked at the Lift wiki, Simply Lift and Exploring Lift.

I am new to Scala but I have used other Functional languages in the
past, so I am not too worried.
I am not a Java citizen however, and I have been overwhelmed by the
different IDEs, build and dependencies management tools...

I am also unclear about which version of Lift I should be using ?
I would be happy to use Scala 2.8.1 with Lift 2.2 but most of the
sample code / documentation I've found seem to refer to older versions
of the framework.
What version of Lift does the online "Exploring Lift" book refer too ?

Thanks

Emmanuel

[Naftoli Gugenheim]

I think the best thing is to use the latest versions. There is a list somewhere of important breaking changes, don't remember if it's a page on the Assembla wiki or a sticky thread in the Google Group. Otherwise if you try something and it doesn't work just ask on the list.
The simplest build tool is sbt (hence its name). All you need on your computer to get started is Java and sbt-launch.jar (and you probably want to download the lift sbt starter project, e.g., from https://github.com/lift/lift_sbt_prototype/archives/master). You can then go to a directory and type "java /path/to/sbt-launch.jar". You probably want to follow the instructions for setting up a batch file or shell script though, so you can put your common command line switches there. If the directory does not contain an sbt project it will walk you through initializing one.
You don't need an IDE. Personally I use eclipse, but many people just use the various programmers' text editors.

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[David Pollak]

On Mon, Dec 20, 2010 at 5:39 PM, therac25 <th3r...@googlemail.com> wrote:

Hello List,

I am thinking of using Lift to develop a web app prototype for my
employer.
I would like to ask you what is a simple path to get started ?
So far I have looked at the Lift wiki, Simply Lift and Exploring Lift.

Cool.  Simply Lift is the most recent starting point.  It's oriented to the features in 2.2.  Exploring Lift
 

I am new to Scala but I have used other Functional languages in the
past, so I am not too worried.
I am not a Java citizen however, and I have been overwhelmed by the
different IDEs, build and dependencies management tools...

Emacs and Ensime are an outstanding combination.
 

I am also unclear about which version of Lift I should be using ?

2.8.1 & 2.2 is far and away the best combination.

Scala 2.8.x is worlds better than 2.7.x

Lift 2.2 adds a ton of features (HTML5 support, designer friendly templates/CSS selector transforms, wiring) that will make your job a whole lot better.
 

I would be happy to use Scala 2.8.1 with Lift 2.2 but most of the
sample code / documentation I've found seem to refer to older versions
of the framework.

Yeah.  I'm working hard at documenting 2.2's new features.  2.2 is source compatible with the 2.x branch of Lift (with some minor exceptions generally related to how Scala 2.8 handles implicits vs. 2.7).
 
Also, asking questions in this forum is an excellent way of getting answers as well as giving me new material for Simply Lift.

What version of Lift does the online "Exploring Lift" book refer too ?

Thanks

Emmanuel

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Lift, the simply functional web framework http://liftweb.net
Beginning Scala http://www.apress.com/book/view/1430219890
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Blog: http://goodstuff.im
Surf the harmonics

[Timothy Perrett]

Hi Emmanuel,

I am currently working on a book called Lift in Action - it starts
right from the base level and builds up from there, also including a
comprehensive reference section; perhaps you will find it helpful:

http://manning.com/perrett/

Tim

[Maarten Koopmans]

I did - Exploring Lift and Tim's book gave me two perspectives and a solid understanding fairly quickly. Then there are the day-to-day little things you run into - that's where the Wiki and this list are great.

--Maarten

[Naftoli Gugenheim]

On Mon, Dec 20, 2010 at 11:23 PM, David Pollak <feeder.of...@gmail.com> wrote:

2.8.1 & 2.2 is far and away the best combination

...except for the Enumeration bug 2.8.1 introduced, so make sure your Enumerations have manually specified names or you'll get an extra enum called "Value" the second time you call values!

[Andy Czerwonka]

Is there enough there already to add value?  I was going to buy it when it's ready...

[therac25]

> > I am not a Java citizen however, and I have been overwhelmed by the
> > different IDEs, build and dependencies management tools...
>
> Emacs and Ensime are an outstanding combination.
>

great, I am more of an emacs user

>
> > I am also unclear about which version of Lift I should be using ?
>
> 2.8.1 & 2.2 is far and away the best combination.

Great

>
> Also, asking questions in this forum is an excellent way of getting answers
> as well as giving me new material for Simply Lift.
>

I'd love to see a chapter on the database layer, as I will need this.
'Exploring Lift' has a chapter on Mapper, but 'Simply Lift' hasn't.


Thanks

Emmanuel

[Jan B]

> I am new to Scala but I have used other Functional languages in the
> past, so I am not too worried.
> I am not a Java citizen however, and I have been overwhelmed by the
> different IDEs, build and dependencies management tools...

For me IntelliJ IDEA + Scala Plugin + SBT works really nice.

To setup an idea project you can use the sbt Plugin *idea (https://
github.com/mpeltonen/sbt-idea-plugin) which works really nice.

Have fun
Jan

[Timothy Perrett]

Andy, you're asking the wrong guy really ;-)

But yeah, from the feedback i've had its becoming a good resource for
learning Lift. I also have several chapters in the hopper on
deployment and Lift's AJAX / Comet support which are near MEAPing. Its
christmas, treat yourself :-D

There are several sources of content available of course, but as
Maarten said I think its a case of consuming these different
perspectives so you have enough information to make your own informed
choices.

Cheers, Tim

[Antonio Salazar Cardozo]

Personally, I use vim + liftweb.vim (which, granted, I wrote) + sbt (+ JRebel, usually). Don't really take advantage of any code completion, but it works just fine for me :)

Antonio

[David Pollak]

This is intentional.  I'm focusing on Lift the Web Framework in Simply Lift, not on all the various modules.  Given that there are a nearly infinite number of ways to materialize instances into the address space for Lift to allow you to create HTTP/HTML based user interactions around them, it seems to me that there's no way to do justice to any of them.
 

Thanks

Emmanuel

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[Ján Raska]

Hi Emmanuel,

Tim's book is available through Manning's MEAP (early access program), meaning, you'll get currently available pages immediatelly after you purchase it, and when another chaper is ready, you'll recieve a link to get updated PDF. After the book is completely written, you'll get a final PDF (and a printed copy if you choose so)

We purchased it for our company and I'm really amazed how fast is Tim writing, taken into account, that I can't just read the book but need to do some programming too, Tim is writing faster, then I can read... Though to be honest, sometimes I swear as in a new chapter I find very fast solution for something I've been doing couple days :)

I believe it's covering the newest version of Lift, as Tim is writing it as we speak, but Tim can surely answer it better then me

Rusho

On Dec 22, 2010, at 6:43 , therac25 wrote:

> Hi Tim,
>
> yes I am aware of your book, I didn't mention it because it's not
> entirely available yet.
>
> Is it covering Lift2.x ?
>
> E.

[Timothy Perrett]

Rusho,

Firstly, thanks very much for the kind words - this is truly humbling
and a pleasure to hear that someone is finding the content helpful.

The book is covering every new feature in Lift, including the very
recently added stuff like Wiring (that I just finished writing about).
So yeah, there will of course come a point where I have to stop
updating things, but its highly likely that my book will ship against
Lift 2.3.

Cheers, Tim

>  smime.p7s
> 5KViewDownload

[Andy Czerwonka]

Cool.  I'll make the purchase... why not... it's Christmas after-all. :-)