@glimmer/reference

What is @glimmer/reference?

@glimmer/reference is a package that provides a set of utilities for managing and observing references in the Glimmer VM. It is primarily used in the context of Ember.js and Glimmer.js to handle reactive data and bindings efficiently.

What are @glimmer/reference's main functionalities?

Creating References

This feature allows you to create constant references that hold a static value. The `createConstRef` function is used to create a reference with a given value and label.

const { createConstRef } = require('@glimmer/reference');
const ref = createConstRef('Hello, world!', 'greeting');
console.log(ref.value()); // Output: 'Hello, world!'

Updating References

This feature allows you to create updatable references that can change their value over time. The `createUpdatableRef` function is used to create a reference that can be updated with a new value.

const { createUpdatableRef } = require('@glimmer/reference');
const ref = createUpdatableRef('Initial value');
console.log(ref.value()); // Output: 'Initial value'
ref.update('Updated value');
console.log(ref.value()); // Output: 'Updated value'

Tracking References

This feature allows you to track changes to references and react to those changes. The `track` function is used to execute a callback whenever the value of a reference changes.

const { createConstRef, createUpdatableRef, track } = require('@glimmer/reference');
const constRef = createConstRef('Static value');
const updatableRef = createUpdatableRef('Dynamic value');
track(() => {
  console.log(constRef.value()); // Output: 'Static value'
  console.log(updatableRef.value()); // Output: 'Dynamic value'
});
updatableRef.update('New dynamic value');
track(() => {
  console.log(updatableRef.value()); // Output: 'New dynamic value'
});

Other packages similar to @glimmer/reference

mobx

MobX is a state management library that makes it simple to connect the reactive data of your application with the UI. It provides similar functionalities to @glimmer/reference in terms of creating and tracking observable values, but it is more comprehensive and can be used with any JavaScript framework.

rxjs

RxJS is a library for reactive programming using Observables, to make it easier to compose asynchronous or callback-based code. It offers a more extensive set of tools for managing reactive data streams compared to @glimmer/reference, which is more focused on the specific needs of the Glimmer VM.

vue

Vue.js is a progressive JavaScript framework for building user interfaces. It includes a reactivity system that is similar to the one provided by @glimmer/reference, but it is integrated into a full-featured framework for building web applications.