plop

What is plop?

Plop is a micro-generator framework that helps you create consistent and repeatable code snippets, files, or projects. It allows you to define templates and automate the creation of boilerplate code, making it easier to maintain consistency across your codebase.

What are plop's main functionalities?

File Generation

This feature allows you to generate files based on templates. In this example, a new component file is created using a Handlebars template. The user is prompted for the component name, and the file is generated in the specified path.

module.exports = function (plop) {
  plop.setGenerator('component', {
    description: 'Create a new component',
    prompts: [
      {
        type: 'input',
        name: 'name',
        message: 'Component name?'
      }
    ],
    actions: [
      {
        type: 'add',
        path: 'src/components/{{pascalCase name}}/{{pascalCase name}}.js',
        templateFile: 'plop-templates/component.hbs'
      }
    ]
  });
};

Custom Actions

Plop allows you to define custom actions that can be executed as part of the generation process. In this example, a custom action type is defined and used in a generator.

module.exports = function (plop) {
  plop.setActionType('customAction', function (answers, config, plop) {
    // Custom action logic here
    return 'Custom action executed';
  });
  plop.setGenerator('custom', {
    description: 'Run a custom action',
    prompts: [],
    actions: [
      {
        type: 'customAction'
      }
    ]
  });
};

Template Rendering

This feature allows you to render templates with dynamic data. In this example, a README file is generated using a Handlebars template, with the project name provided by the user.

module.exports = function (plop) {
  plop.setGenerator('readme', {
    description: 'Create a README file',
    prompts: [
      {
        type: 'input',
        name: 'projectName',
        message: 'Project name?'
      }
    ],
    actions: [
      {
        type: 'add',
        path: 'README.md',
        templateFile: 'plop-templates/readme.hbs'
      }
    ]
  });
};

Other packages similar to plop

yeoman-generator

Yeoman Generator is a scaffolding tool that allows you to create custom generators for project templates. It is more feature-rich and has a larger ecosystem compared to Plop, but it can be more complex to set up and use.

hygen

Hygen is a fast, scalable, and developer-friendly code generator that uses plain text templates. It is similar to Plop in terms of simplicity and ease of use, but it focuses more on speed and scalability.

slush

Slush is a scaffolding tool that uses Gulp for code generation. It is similar to Plop in that it allows you to create custom generators, but it leverages the Gulp ecosystem for more advanced build and task automation capabilities.

README

Plop

Micro-generator script for doing project specific scaffolding of code structures