[Checkins] SVN: grok/trunk/doc/about_grok.txt Add 'about grok' document.

[Martijn Faassen]

Log message for revision 73406:
  Add 'about grok' document.
  

Changed:
  A   grok/trunk/doc/about_grok.txt

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Added: grok/trunk/doc/about_grok.txt
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--- grok/trunk/doc/about_grok.txt	2007-03-20 23:57:43 UTC (rev 73405)
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+Grok: now even cavemen can use Zope 3
+======================================
+
+Grok: Experience, Expertise, Extensibility
+------------------------------------------
+
+Grok is a web application framework for Python developers. It is aimed
+at both beginners and very experienced web developers. 
+
+Now you will have likely heard about many different web frameworks for
+Python. We will explain why you should consider Grok.
+
+Grok is agile. Grok is fun. Grok offers a very wide range of
+features. Grok is extensible. Grok is grounded in a deep experience
+with web development.
+
+How does Grok do all that? By standing on a giant's shoulder. That
+giant is Zope 3.
+
+Grok, through Zope 3, offers a *lot* of building blocks for your web
+application.
+
+Grok, through Zope 3, is informed by a *lot* of hard-earned wisdom.
+
+Grok is based on Zope 3. Zope 3 is a powerful and flexible web
+application framework for Python. It features a large amount of API
+documentation. Zope 3 aims for reliability. It has a very large
+automatic test coverage (many thousands of tests). It has a large set
+of core features, and sports an enormous range of plug-in components.
+
+Zope 3 has been under continuous development since 2001. Zope 3's
+design in turn is based on experience with the Zope 2 platform, which
+has been under continuous development (starting Bobo, Principia and
+then Zope 1) since 1997. The Zope community is supported by an
+independent foundation, the Zope Foundation.
+
+Successful web applications aren't built for a day - such an
+application will need to be maintained, extended, evolved, over a
+period of many years. Zope developers really know this. Grok, through
+Zope 3, offers a basic architecture that enables your application to
+grow over time.
+
+Grok: Zope 3 for cavemen
+------------------------
+
+Zope 3, unfortunately, also has some problems: its power also raises
+the entry barrier for developers to get up to speed with it. Even
+after you've learned it, its emphasis on explicit configuration and
+specification of interfaces can slow down development.
+
+Grok aims to remedy these problems. Grok aims to make Zope 3 easier to
+learn, and more agile to work with, while retaining the power of Zope
+3.
+
+Grok appeals to the caveman or woman in all of us. Cavemen, like us
+programmers, want powerful and flexible tools. Cavemen are great at
+tools after all; they invented the whole concept of them. But cavemen,
+and we, also want our tools to be simple and effective.
+
+Cavemen want tools like clubs: a club is powerful, flexible (you can
+bash in anything, mash potatoes too) and also simple and
+effective. Zope 3 is already powerful and flexible. Grok aims to make
+it simpler and more effective, for beginners and experienced
+developers alike. Grok: now even cavemen can use Zope 3.
+
+Grok from the Zope 3 perspective
+--------------------------------
+
+Zope 3 allows you to combine different components in an explicit,
+flexible way. You can hook up a view to a model, an event handler to
+an event, and a new API to an existing object. The process of doing
+this is called *configuration*. In a technical sense, Grok can be
+understood as an alternate configuration mechanism for Zope 3.
+
+Zope 3 without Grok uses ZCML for hooking up objects together. ZCML is
+an XML-based configuration language. ZCML statements are stored in
+their own file, next to the code. While using ZCML has the benefit of
+being explicit and flexible, it can also make code harder to read as
+there are more files to consult in order to understand what is going
+on.
+
+Grok does away with ZCML. Instead it analyzes your Python code for the
+use of certain special base classes and directives, and then "groks"
+it. This grokking process results in the same configuration as it
+would have if you used the equivalent ZCML. We believe that having all
+configuration along with your Python code makes the code easier to
+follow and more fun to develop.
+
+Grok has been designed so that if you organize your code in a certain
+way, you can even leave out most of the explicit directives in your
+Python code. This makes code written for Grok look clean and
+uniform. You still have all the power of explicit configuration
+available should you need it, however.
+
+During the development of Grok we have taken a careful look at common
+patterns in Zope 3 code and configuration. Grok aims to make these
+patterns more easy to use and succinct.