Zero Server

Zero configuration web framework.

Features |
Installation |
Getting Started |
Examples |
Docs

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Zero is a web framework to simplify modern web development. It allows you to build your application without worrying about package management or routing. It's as simple as writing your code in a mix of Node.js, React, HTML, MDX, Vue, Svelte, Python, and static files and putting them all in a folder. Zero will serve them all. Zero abstracts the usual project configuration for routing, bundling, and transpiling to make it easier to get started.

_An example project with different types of pages, all in one folder:_

!A basic mono-repo

Features

Auto Configuration: Your project folder doesn't require config files. You just place your code and it's automatically compiled, bundled and served.

File-system Based Routing: If your code resides in ./api/login.js it's exposed at http:///api/login. Inspired by good ol' PHP days.

Auto Dependency Resolution: If a file does require('underscore'), it is automatically installed and resolved. You can always create your own package.json file to install a specific version of a package.

Multiple Languages: Zero is designed to support code written in many languages all under a single project. Imagine this:

1. Exposing your Tensorflow model as a python API.
2. Using React pages to consume it.
3. Writing the user login code in Node.js.
4. Your landing pages in a mix of HTML or Markdown/MDX.

All under a single project folder as a single web application.

Play on Glitch

You can play with Zero without installing it locally. Click the button below:

Installation

You can install zero globally by:

``sh
npm install -g zero
`

Getting Started

Let's start by making a website that tells us server time.

First we need to create an API endpoint in Node.js to tell us time in JSON.

Create a new folder and add a new file time.js in that folder. In this file, export a function that accepts Request and Response objects (like Express):

`js
// time.js
const moment = require("moment");

module.exports = (req, res) => {
var time = moment().format("LT"); // 11:51 AM
res.send({ time: time });
};
`

Once saved, you can cd into that folder and start the server like this:

`sh
zero
`

Running this command will automatically install any dependencies (like _momentjs_ here) and start the web server.

Open this URL in the browser: http://localhost:3000/time

You just created an API endpoint 🎉:

!Time API

Keep the server running. Now let's consume our API from a React page, create a new file index.jsx and add the following code:

`jsx
// index.jsx
import React from "react";

export default class extends React.Component {
static async getInitialProps() {
var json = await fetch("/time").then(resp => resp.json());
return { time: json.time };
}

render() {
return

Current time is: {this.props.time}

;
}
}
`

This is a standard React component. With one additional hook for initial data population:

getInitialProps is an async static method which is called by zero when the page loads. This method can return a plain object which populates props.

Now go to this URL: http://localhost:3000/ and you should see the current server time rendered by React while fetch-ing an API endpoint you created earlier:

!Time In React

zero automatically bundles your code and supports server-side rendering. You don't need to fiddle with webpack anymore.

That's it! You just created a web application.

Supported Languages

- Node.js _(JavaScript & TypeScript)_
- React _(JavaScript & TypeScript)_
- HTML
- Markdown / MDX
- Vue
- Svelte
- Python

Auto Dependency Resolution

If a file does require('underscore'), the latest version of that package is automatically installed from NPM and resolved.

But sometimes you want to use a specific version or a dependency from a private repository. You can do that by creating a package.json in your project folder and adding dependencies to it. Zero will install those versions instead.

Example (package.json):

`json
{
"name": "myapp",
"dependencies": {
"underscore": "^1.4.0",
"private_ui_pkg": "git+https://github.com/user/repo.git"
}
}
``

Contributing

Please see our CONTRIBUTING.md

License

Zero is Apache-2.0 licensed.