What is Marionette.js?

Key takeaways:

• Marionette.js is a JavaScript framework built on Backbone.js, designed for simplified, scalable, and maintainable web application development using a modular design pattern, where applications are structured as modules and submodules.

• It introduces a dedicated application object that acts as the root of the application, handling all modules and submodules separately from the router, thus preventing unnecessary complexity in routing and navigation.

• Marionette.js offers several features that enhance its usability, including module initializers, composite architecture support, module decoupling through event aggregators, advanced routing capabilities, and the ability to define regions for rendering views, facilitating a more organized application structure

Marionette.js is a JavaScript framework built upon Backbone.js, enabling simplified, scalable, and maintainable web application development. It is very popular today in building various JavaScript applications with a client-server system. Its applications are based on the modular design patternThis design pattern ensures that the application's objects are subdivided into modules and sub-modules where the objects are defined as modules and submodules.

Derick Bailey created Marionette.js to introduce a method to develop applications where an object defined as a class handles the entire application. The object acts as the application’s root. Here is the code to create an application object in Marionette.js:

Here we created the MyApplication object to which further application objects like modules and submodules, templates, and views will be attached. The entire application will revolve around this object.

Before Marionette.js, developers used the application’s router (main router) as the app object. By definition, routers are not supposed to handle the application’s objects and modules other than handling navigation that burdens the main router unnecessarily. Therefore, Marionette.js solved this problem by defining a separate entity to handle the application’s modules and objects. Backbone.js lacked this feature.

Why is it called Marionette?

A marionette, basically, is a kind of puppet that is controlled by the strings attached to it by a puppetmaster known as a “marionettist.”

By applying this analogy, we can easily determine that developing applications in Marionette.js is like a marionettist (developer) controlling the strings of a marionette (application). Considering the features that this extension of Backbone.js provides, developing applications is pretty simple and easy to modify. We can actually control and play with our applications like puppetmasters because that’s how convenient it is!

Features provided by Marionette.js

The following features provided by Marionette.js have contributed to its popularity:

• Creating a separate app object: The most distinctive feature of Marionette.js is its ability to define an application object that controls the entire application, including its attached modules and submodules.

• Defining initializers for modules: In this feature, we can define initializers for modules within their respective files without burdening the main file by adding everything to it.

• Supporting composite architecture: This feature of Marionette.js enables us to define various views and templates without adding to the complexity of the application.

• Decoupling of modules: By using event aggregators, it enables the decoupling of modules/objects in the application, making it simpler to handle.

• Defining regions: We can define regions that link our views to the HTML file. These regions can also be extended to add the functionalities we like within them.

• Advanced routing capabilities: This feature of Marionette enables us to define and map routes to specific controller actions. This makes URLs and navigation easier to handle in the application.

Creating a Marionette.js application

The first step to creating a Marionette.js application is to include all the necessary dependencies in our project. We would require the following libraries in the order provided below:

• Backbone.js

• Underscore.js

• Marionette.js

We need these libraries because these are the most basic ones to create a Marionette.js application.

Now we need to create an application module, as already discussed above. This module will encapsulate our application’s functionalities:

Once the application has been created, we must define its regions. Regions provide areas to render our views in the application’s layout. We use the addRegion() to do so in the following way:

Now our application needs initializers to enable performing some functions when the app starts. Any configuration task or setup can be defined in these initializers. We use the addInitializer() method, as shown below:

Now that we have our basic requirements setup for the application, we call the start() function to start the application:

We can now add as many templates and views as we require to the application or extend the functionality of our initializers and attach new modules and submodules.

Quiz

A quick quiz to test your understanding of Marionette.js.

Conclusion

Marionette.js is a powerful JavaScript framework that extends Backbone.js, offering a modular and scalable approach to developing web applications. It simplifies application structure by introducing the concept of a dedicated application object that manages modules and views, improving maintainability and reducing complexity. Key features like event aggregation, advanced routing, and region management make it a preferred choice for developers building large, client-server web applications. By providing a clear and modular design, Marionette.js enables more efficient and manageable development, helping developers create more organized and robust web applications.