@fluid-internal/client-utils

@fluid-internal/client-utils

This package is intended for sharing and promoting utility functions across packages in the Fluid Framework repo, primarily within the client release group.

IMPORTANT: This package is intended strictly as an implementation detail of the Fluid Framework and is not intended for public consumption. We make no stability guarantees regarding its APIs.

Adding code to this package

As a utility package, this package does not have a strong identity. This means that it's easy to become a "dumping ground" for code that we think we should share but doesn't have an obvious home. We try to avoid dumping things into utility packages, and this one is no exception.

New code should only be added to this package in rare circumstances. In most cases, the code would be better placed in a package with a clear identity (e.g. an "events" package for shared event infrastructure) or not shared at all.

Requirements

This package has important requirements for the code within it.

1. Code within this package should require some external dependencies. If it does not, then the core-utils package is a better location.
2. All exports must be designated @internal. This code is intended for use within the Fluid Framework only.
3. This package should only contain 'implementation' code, not type definitions. This is the most flexible rule, and there are some exceptions. If the type is only necessary when using this package, then it is probably OK. However, usually such types would be better placed in core-interfaces or in a package that corresponds to the purpose.

If you want to add code that does not meet these requirements, these other packages may be a better choice:

• Types and interfaces that are intended to be broadly shared across the client release group should be put in the core-interfaces package.
• Zero-dependency shared code should be put in the core-utils package.

Isomorphic Code

One of the primary reasons for this package's existence is to provide isomorphic implementations of Buffer and related utilities that work in both browser and Node.js environments.

Our general strategy for this is as follows:

• We use the export map in package.json to provide different entrypoints for browser (indexBrowser.js) vs. Node.js (indexNode.js).

• Because the browser ecosystem is more complex (bunders, etc.), we improve our odds of success by making the browser the default. Only Node.js relies on remapping via the export map.

• We further simplify things by only using the export map to resolve the initial entrypoint. We do not rely on export maps to remap imports within the module. (Basically, the browser / node.js specific implementations fork at the entrypoint and from that point on explicitly import browser or node specific files.)

One thing it is important to be aware of is that our CJS support relies on copying a stub package.json file to dist/package.json to set the module type to commonjs. When resolving internal imports for CJS packages, module resolution will walk up from the *.js file and discover this stub package.json. Because the stub package.json lacks an export map, internal imports will not be remapped.

Using Fluid Framework libraries

When taking a dependency on a Fluid Framework library, we recommend using a ^ (caret) version range, such as ^1.3.4. While Fluid Framework libraries may use different ranges with interdependencies between other Fluid Framework libraries, library consumers should always prefer ^.

Trademark

This project may contain Microsoft trademarks or logos for Microsoft projects, products, or services.

Use of these trademarks or logos must follow Microsoft's Trademark & Brand Guidelines.

Use of Microsoft trademarks or logos in modified versions of this project must not cause confusion or imply Microsoft sponsorship.