--- category: tool tool: Compojure contributors: - ["Adam Bard", "http://adambard.com/"] filename: learncompojure.clj --- ## Getting Started with Compojure Compojure is a DSL for *quickly* creating *performant* web applications in Clojure with minimal effort: ```clojure (ns myapp.core (:require [compojure.core :refer :all] [org.httpkit.server :refer [run-server]])) ; httpkit is a server (defroutes myapp (GET "/" [] "Hello World")) (defn -main [] (run-server myapp {:port 5000})) ``` **Step 1:** Create a project with [Leiningen](http://leiningen.org/): ``` lein new myapp ``` **Step 2:** Put the above code in `src/myapp/core.clj` **Step 3:** Add some dependencies to `project.clj`: ``` [compojure "1.1.8"] [http-kit "2.1.16"] ``` **Step 4:** Run: ``` lein run -m myapp.core ``` View at: Compojure apps will run on any ring-compatible server, but we recommend [http-kit](http://http-kit.org/) for its performance and [massive concurrency](http://http-kit.org/600k-concurrent-connection-http-kit.html). ### Routes In compojure, each route is an HTTP method paired with a URL-matching pattern, an argument list, and a body. ```clojure (defroutes myapp (GET "/" [] "Show something") (POST "/" [] "Create something") (PUT "/" [] "Replace something") (PATCH "/" [] "Modify Something") (DELETE "/" [] "Annihilate something") (OPTIONS "/" [] "Appease something") (HEAD "/" [] "Preview something")) ``` Compojure route definitions are just functions which [accept request maps and return response maps](https://github.com/mmcgrana/ring/blob/master/SPEC): ```clojure (myapp {:uri "/" :request-method :post}) ; => {:status 200 ; :headers {"Content-Type" "text/html; charset=utf-8} ; :body "Create Something"} ``` The body may be a function, which must accept the request as a parameter: ```clojure (defroutes myapp (GET "/" [] (fn [req] "Do something with req"))) ``` Or, you can just use the request directly: ```clojure (defroutes myapp (GET "/" req "Do something with req")) ``` Route patterns may include named parameters: ```clojure (defroutes myapp (GET "/hello/:name" [name] (str "Hello " name))) ``` You can adjust what each parameter matches by supplying a regex: ```clojure (defroutes myapp (GET ["/file/:name.:ext" :name #".*", :ext #".*"] [name ext] (str "File: " name ext))) ``` ### Middleware Clojure uses [Ring](https://github.com/ring-clojure/ring) for routing. Handlers are just functions that accept a request map and return a response map (Compojure will turn strings into 200 responses for you). You can easily write middleware that wraps all or part of your application to modify requests or responses: ```clojure (defroutes myapp (GET "/" req (str "Hello World v" (:app-version req)))) (defn wrap-version [handler] (fn [request] (handler (assoc request :app-version "1.0.1")))) (defn -main [] (run-server (wrap-version myapp) {:port 5000})) ``` [Ring-Defaults](https://github.com/ring-clojure/ring-defaults) provides some handy middlewares for sites and apis, so add it to your dependencies: ``` [ring/ring-defaults "0.1.1"] ``` Then, you can import it in your ns: ``` (ns myapp.core (:require [compojure.core :refer :all] [ring.middleware.defaults :refer :all] [org.httpkit.server :refer [run-server]])) ``` And use `wrap-defaults` to add the `site-defaults` middleware to your app: ``` (defn -main [] (run-server (wrap-defaults myapp site-defaults) {:port 5000})) ``` Now, your handlers may utilize query parameters: ```clojure (defroutes myapp (GET "/posts" req (let [title (get (:params req) :title) author (get (:params req) :author)] (str "Title: " title ", Author: " author)))) ``` Or, for POST and PUT requests, form parameters as well ```clojure (defroutes myapp (POST "/posts" req (let [title (get (:params req) :title) author (get (:params req) :author)] (str "Title: " title ", Author: " author)))) ``` ### Return values The return value of a route block determines the response body passed on to the HTTP client, or at least the next middleware in the ring stack. Most commonly, this is a string, as in the above examples. But, you may also return a [response map](https://github.com/mmcgrana/ring/blob/master/SPEC): ```clojure (defroutes myapp (GET "/" [] {:status 200 :body "Hello World"}) (GET "/is-403" [] {:status 403 :body ""}) (GET "/is-json" [] {:status 200 :headers {"Content-Type" "application/json"} :body "{}"})) ``` ### Static Files To serve up static files, use `compojure.route.resources`. Resources will be served from your project's `resources/` folder. ```clojure (require '[compojure.route :as route]) (defroutes myapp (GET "/") (route/resources "/")) ; Serve static resources at the root path (myapp {:uri "/js/script.js" :request-method :get}) ; => Contents of resources/public/js/script.js ``` ### Views / Templates To use templating with Compojure, you'll need a template library. Here are a few: #### [Stencil](https://github.com/davidsantiago/stencil) [Stencil](https://github.com/davidsantiago/stencil) is a [Mustache](http://mustache.github.com/) template library: ```clojure (require '[stencil.core :refer [render-string]]) (defroutes myapp (GET "/hello/:name" [name] (render-string "Hello {{name}}" {:name name}))) ``` You can easily read in templates from your resources directory. Here's a helper function ```clojure (require 'clojure.java.io) (defn read-template [filename] (slurp (clojure.java.io/resource filename))) (defroutes myapp (GET "/hello/:name" [name] (render-string (read-template "templates/hello.html") {:name name}))) ``` #### [Selmer](https://github.com/yogthos/Selmer) [Selmer](https://github.com/yogthos/Selmer) is a Django and Jinja2-inspired templating language: ```clojure (require '[selmer.parser :refer [render-file]]) (defroutes myapp (GET "/hello/:name" [name] (render-file "templates/hello.html" {:name name}))) ``` #### [Hiccup](https://github.com/weavejester/hiccup) [Hiccup](https://github.com/weavejester/hiccup) is a library for representing HTML as Clojure code ```clojure (require '[hiccup.core :as hiccup]) (defroutes myapp (GET "/hello/:name" [name] (hiccup/html [:html [:body [:h1 {:class "title"} (str "Hello " name)]]]))) ``` #### [Markdown](https://github.com/yogthos/markdown-clj) [Markdown-clj](https://github.com/yogthos/markdown-clj) is a Markdown implementation. ```clojure (require '[markdown.core :refer [md-to-html-string]]) (defroutes myapp (GET "/hello/:name" [name] (md-to-html-string "## Hello, world"))) ``` Further reading: * [Official Compojure Documentation](https://github.com/weavejester/compojure/wiki) * [Clojure for the Brave and True](http://www.braveclojure.com/)