Developing Backbone.js Applications

The book argues that Backbone.js helps structure client-side code for data-rich web applications. It explains MVC and MV* ideas, shows how Backbone models, views, collections, routers, events, and sync work, and then applies them in Todo and book library examples.

Reading notes

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• Client-side apps increasingly pull raw data from the server and render it in the browser when needed.
• Backbone is presented as a lightweight library for organizing code and separating responsibilities.
• The book targets novice to intermediate developers who want better-structured client-side code.
• It frames Backbone as MV* rather than strict MVC.
• Models hold application data and support defaults, getters, setters, validation, and change events.
• Views render model data into the DOM and handle user interaction through delegated events.
• Collections group models, support add, remove, reset, set, fetch, and utility methods from Underscore.
• REST persistence is handled through fetch, save, create, and destroy, all backed by Backbone.sync.
• Events are a central part of Backbone and are mixed into models, collections, views, routers, and Backbone itself.
• Routers map URLs to application states and work with Backbone.history.
• The Todo app example uses localStorage, filtering, and view updates driven by model and collection events.
• The book library example shows a REST API, server-side persistence, and date and keyword handling.
• Marionette and Thorax are presented as extensions for larger or more opinionated architectures.
• Common problems cover nested views, nested models, validation, inheritance, and event aggregation.
• Modular development is covered through RequireJS, AMD, and related build tooling.
• Backbone Boilerplate and Grunt-BBB are shown as scaffolding and build helpers.
• The mobile chapter shows how Backbone can be combined with jQuery Mobile while delegating navigation and page enhancement carefully.
• Pagination is handled with Backbone.Paginator for both request-side and client-side paging.
• Jasmine, QUnit, and SinonJS are introduced for testing Backbone apps.
• The appendix sketches a small MVC implementation and compares MVC, MVP, and Backbone’s approach.