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Opa Application Development
Opa Application Development

Opa Application Development: A rapid and secure web development framework to develop web applications quickly and easily in Opa

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Opa Application Development

Chapter 1. Getting Started with Opa

This chapter shows how to install Opa and set its environment. A simple Opa program will also be shown to give a first glimpse of Opa programming.

Installing Opa


This section is about installation and configuration of Opa. You can get a more detailed installation guide that includes how to build Opa from source on Opa's webpage (https://github.com/MLstate/opalang/wiki/Getting-started). This section will give us brief instructions on how to install Opa compiler, Node.js, and some required modules for Node.js.

Installing Node.js

Node.js (http://nodejs.org) is a platform for building fast and scalable network applications. It is the backend of Opa (since Opa 1.0.0). We need to install Node.js first before installing Opa. The following are the steps to install Node.js on various operating systems:

  • Mac OS: Following are the steps to install Node.js:

    1. Download the latest .pkg package from http://nodejs.org/dist/latest/.

    2. Double-click on the package to install Node.js.

  • Ubuntu and Debian Linux: To install Node.js on Ubuntu and Debian Linux, type the following commands:

    $sudo apt-get install python-software-properties
    $sudo add-apt-repository ppa:chris-lea/node.js
    $sudo apt-get update
    $sudo apt-get install nodejs npm
    

    Tip

    Downloading the example code files

    You can download the example code files for all Packt books you have purchased from your account at http://www.packtpub.com. If you purchased this book elsewhere, you can visit http://www.packtpub.com/support and register to have the files e-mailed directly to you.

  • Windows: The following are the steps to install Node.js:

    1. Download the latest .msi package from http://nodejs.org/dist/latest/.

    2. Double-click on the package to install Node.js on Windows.

Type the following commands to confirm your installation. If everything goes right, you will see the version information of Node.js and npm.

$ node -v
$ npm –v

Installing the required modules

There are several modules that are required by Opa to run an application. Type the following command to install these modules:

$ npm install -g mongodb formidable nodemailer simplesmtp imap

Installing the Opa compiler

The easiest solution for installing Opa is to download an installer from the Opa website (http://opalang.org/). You can also get the installer from Opa's GitHub repository (https://github.com/MLstate/opalang/downloads). At the time this book is being written, the latest version of Opa is 1.1.0.

Following are the steps to install Opa on various operating systems:

  • Mac OS X: Download the latest .dmg package and double-click on it to install. You will need the password of an administrative account.

  • Ubuntu and Debian Linux: Download the latest .deb package and double-click on it to install. You can also install it with the following command line:

    $sudo dpkg –i opa-1.1.0.x86.deb
    
  • Windows: Download the latest .exe file and double-click on it to install. Note that only 64-bit packages are available for Windows at this time.

  • Other Linux: To install Opa follow these steps:

    1. Download the latest .run package for Linux.

    2. Go to the download folder and add an execution privilege to the downloaded file by running the following command:

      $ chmod a+x opa-1.1.0.x64.run
      
    3. Run the installing script:

      $ sudo ./opa-1.1.0.x64.run
      

Testing the installation

To test if Opa is installed properly on your computer, run the following command:

$ opa --version

Opa is installed properly if the version information of the Opa compiler is printed.

Setting up editors


You can write Opa codes with any text editor you like, but a good editor can make coding easier. This section is about setting up editors you may commonly use. For now, Sublime Text is the most complete Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for Opa.

Sublime Text

Sublime Text (http://www.sublimetext.com/) is a sophisticated text editor for code, markup, and prose. You can download and try Sublime Text for free from http://www.sublimetext.com/2.

There is an Opa plugin that offers syntax highlighting, code completion, and some other features. To install the plugin, follow these steps:

  1. Get the plugin from https://github.com/downloads/MLstate/OpaSublimeText/Opa.sublime-package.

  2. Move it to ~/.config/sublime-text2/Installed Packages/ (in Linux), or %%APPDATA%%\Sublime Text 2\Installed Packages\ (in Windows), or ~/Library/Application Support/Sublime Text 2/Installed Packages (in Mac).

  3. Start Sublime and check if the menu entry (View | Syntax | Opa) is present. If everything goes well, the file with the .opa extension should automatically have its syntax highlighted. If not, please make sure you are using the Opa plugin (View | Syntax | Opa). We can navigate to Edit | Line | Reindent to auto-indent the Opa code.

Vim

Vim (http://www.vim.org/) is a highly configurable text editor, freely available for many different platforms. The Opa installation package provides a mode for Vim at /usr/share/opa/vim/ (for Linux) or /opt/mlstate/share/opa/vim/ (for Mac OS). To enable Vim to detect Opa syntax, copy these files to your .vim directory in your home folder (create it if it does not exist already):

  • On Linux, type the following command:

    $cp –p /usr/share/opa/vim/* ~/.vim/
    
  • On Mac OS, type the following command:

    $cp –p /opt/mlstate/share/opa/vim/* ~/.vim
    

Emacs

On Mac OS X, you can either use Aquamacs and the package installation will take care of it, or you should add the following line to your configuration file (which might be ~/.emacs; create it if it does not exist already):

(autoload 'opa-classic-mode "/Library/Application Support/Emacs/site-lisp/opa-mode/opa-mode.el" "Opa CLASSIC editing mode." t)
(autoload 'opa-js-mode "/Library/Application Support/Emacs/site-lisp/opa-mode/opa-js-mode.el" "Opa JS editing mode." t)
(add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\.opa$" . opa-js-mode))
(add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\.js\.opa$" . opa-js-mode))
(add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\.classic\.opa$" . opa-classic-mode))

On Linux, add the following lines to your configuration file:

(autoload 'opa-js-mode "/usr/share/opa/emacs/opa-js-mode.el" "Opa JS editing mode." t)
(autoload 'opa-classic-mode "/usr/share/opa/emacs/opa-mode.el" "Opa CLASSIC editing mode." t)
(add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\.opa$" . opa-js-mode))
(add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\.js\.opa$" . opa-js-mode))
(add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\.classic\.opa$" . opa-classic-mode))

For Eclipse, the experimental plugin is available at https://github.com/MLstate/opa-eclipse-plugin.

Your first Opa application


As a first example, here is the most simple program in Opa:

jlog("hello Opa!")

Compile and run it:

$ opa hello.opa -o hello.js
$ ./hello.js

Note

We can type opa hello.opa -- to compile and run the code in a single line.

The code does nothing but prints hello Opa on your screen. If you can see this message, it means Opa is working properly on your machine.

Summary


In this chapter, we learned how to install Opa, set up a proper editor, and write our first Opa program. In the next chapter, we will have a brief look at the basic grammar of the Opa language.

Left arrow icon Right arrow icon

Key benefits

  • Discover the Opa framework in a progressive and structured way
  • Build secure, powerful web applications with Opa.
  • Create three complete web application demos with Opa.

Description

Opa is a full-stack Open Source web development framework for JavaScript that lets you write secure and scalable web applications. It generates standard Node.js/MongoDB applications, natively supports HTML5 and CSS and automates many aspects of modern web application programming. It handles all aspects of web programming written in one consistent language and compiled to web standards.Opa Application Development is a practical,hands-on guide that provides you with a number of step-by-step exercises. It covers almost all aspects of developing a web application with Opa, which will help you take advantage of the real power of Opa, as well as building a secure, powerful web application rapidly.Opa Application Development dives into all concepts and components required to build a web application with Opa. The first half of this book shows you all of the basic building blocks that you will need to develop an Opa application, including the syntax of Opa, web development aspects, client and server communication and slicing, plugin, database, and so on. By the end of the book you will have yourself created a complete web application along with a game: Pacman!

Who is this book for?

If you are a web developer who wants to get started with the Opa framework and build web applications with it? Then this book is for you. Web development experience is assumed and would be helpful.

What you will learn

  • Set up Opa development environment
  • Develop a web application, manipulate DOM and CSS.
  • Use bootstrap in Opa, including classes, icons and widgets.
  • Slice client and server code.
  • Bind JavaScript and Nodejs to Opa and build a plugin.
  • Store, update and query data in database with MongoDB as the backend.
  • Build a chat application, LiveRoom application in Opa.
  • Handle image and audio with canvas to build a Pacman game

Product Details

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Publication date : Jun 12, 2013
Length: 116 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781782163756
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Product Details

Publication date : Jun 12, 2013
Length: 116 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781782163756
Languages :

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Table of Contents

11 Chapters
Getting Started with Opa Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Basic Syntax Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Developing Web Applications Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Using Bootstrap Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Communicating between Client and Server Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Binding with Other Languages Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Working with Databases Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Internationalization Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Building a Chat Application Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Building a Game – Pacman Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Developing a Social Mobile Application – LiveRoom Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.4
(5 Ratings)
5 star 40%
4 star 60%
3 star 0%
2 star 0%
1 star 0%
Doug Duncan Jul 07, 2013
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
'Opa Application Development' by Li Wenbo is a well written introductory book that can take a person with no experience of the Opa Language to feeling comfortable with the language and allowing them to start programming right away.The book is short (only about 100 pages to read through), but it is packed with examples of the topics discussed. While it doesn't cover everything about the language, it does give you enough of the basics for building your application and gives pointers where to further research on your own when you need more advanced topics.I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking to learn about the Opa language.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
SuJo Jul 15, 2013
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Opa Application Development[...]This guide/book has really explored the Opa Framework. While there are plenty to choose from after reading this I would give it a shot, I really appreciate the how to features the Author uses.You should be intermediate in your web development skills to get the most out of this book. I would recommend this to anyone looking to use this framework, it's not a cut n paste from the manual!
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Amazon Customer Jul 22, 2013
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
This is the second book I've read on Opa (the other being O'Reilly's Opa: Up and Running). I think the contents of the book have been great but the book's example code could have been better. The code itself is fine but it's organized a little strange (naming convention for example). You can download the code before hand to check it out.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
David Moser Jul 05, 2013
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
This is a clear, straight-forward introduction to the Opa web-programming language. It is full of original and useful content. (Disclaimer: I was given a free copy for this review.) I am an enthusiastic admirer of the Opa language project, and found this book to be a great addition to my library. To help future buyers with their own purchasing decision, the rest of this review has been split into two parts; the bad, and the good. The bad: Not much was bad about this book, but I didn't give it all five stars, because it really is not quite as much of a book for those new to the language as it could be. I used it to help some students of mine learn about coding in Opa, and found that, really, they needed a little more background than the HTML/CSS/.js suggested as prerequisites. However, anyone with experience with Ruby on Rails, one of the Python web frameworks (Django, I'm lookin' at you ...), or any of the Javascript frameworks could easily jump right into the book and, by the end, have enough of a background to code up a pretty good, lean web app. Which brings me to. ... The good: This was a really fun way to learn Opa! (Another disclaimer: I also have read and will be reviewing another book on Opa.) I had no trouble at all using the examples in this book as a way to help me and others (my students) learn how to work the Opa web-programming language. This book is a series of guidelines, with all code explicitly spelled out. That's perfect for me, as I find the "textbook" approach, of giving problem-sets and quizzes irritating and pedantic. "Opa Application Development" is pleasantly informative and easy to understand. I am quite confident in my abilities to use Opa for production websites/web apps in the future, thanks to this book. To recap: Yes, buy this book, especially if you like (as I do) to have lots of examples presented as a guideline.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Pirx Danford Jul 26, 2013
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
I read this book as introduction to Opa, because the language catched my eye and I was interested to learn more about it.While writing this review I have 15 years of working as developer under my belt, since the new millenium mostly with PHP.The versatility of PHP is a double-edged sword, its tempting to just stick to it, because for nearly every problem there is a solution available, but there are issues I am not happy with, so I am looking around for possible alternatives."Opa Application Development" helped me a lot in getting my head into the depths of Opa, but it is not an unconditional recommendation.Firstly you really have to have some experience in programming, because the book does expect at least basic knowledge and then some.Secondly you must expect some trouble getting Opa up and running, that the book uses more than 10% of its pages on explaining how to set everything up is indeed necessary and already the required steps are changing. For example when I installed Node.js it was in version 0.10.12 and from 0.10 and above it already includes npm, so trying to install npm separately gave me the funniest kind of errors.Thirdly there is a number of typos, also in the source code examples, but that is not so bad if you download the source examples and use the provided files.Putting this all aside, if you persevere and work completely through the book, you will have the tools and knowledge to successfully start your own project in Opa.At this moment in time there are not too many books about Opa and while this book is by no means easy to digest, its is not a bad pick to get started in Opa if you have a professional background.For me it really whet my appetite for more and I will try out if I can use Opa in one of my private projects.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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