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Wilson Mar

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Play Framework

For easier, faster play for all

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Overview

Here’s Play’s rating as a framework vs. Spring, Grails, etc.:

  • Fees (open source)
  • Speed to first app (samples, documentation)
  • Ease of debugging (clear error messages?)
  • Complexity to customize
  • Scalability

  • Community welcoming and helpful?

  • Its use of Scala means non-blocking I/O.
  • Its use of Functional Programming, immutable objects

Install stand-alone

  1. JDK 8 is a pre-requisite.

    Stand-alone install

    https://www.playframework.com/documentation/2.5.x/Installing shows installing Play through Lightbend Activator, described as “sbt plus templates”.

    Stand-alone install

  2. Download the Play standalone installer from
    https://www.playframework.com/download#older-versions

  3. Select the version your app was built on. In this example, play-2.2.2 is used. Not the latest version.

  4. Unzip.

  5. PROTIP: Move the expanded folder to a location where you have both read and write access.

    (Running play writes some files to directories within the archive, so don’t install to /opt, /usr/local or anywhere else you’d need special permission to write to.)

    The default location for Play is in /opt/, with a version/release code in the folder name.

    /opt/play-2.2.2

    The recommended location is without your user folder :

  6. Open the file that OSX invokes for every new Terminal shell window in your favorite text editor, such as:

    atom ~/.bash_profile

  7. Add a path:

    PROTIP: Define the PLAY2_HOME environment variable with the path to the Play framework executable.

    This would enable a script to change version without disrupting the setup.

    
export PATH=$PATH:~/play-2.2.2
export PLAY2_HOME=~/play-2.2.2
  8. Close the Terminal

  9. In a new Terminal shell session:

    
cd ~/play-2.2.2
chmod a+x play
chmod a+x framework/build

    Verify Play

  10. See if you can play:

    play help

    The response:

    Getting com.typesafe.play console_2.10 2.2.2 ...
:: retrieving :: org.scala-sbt#boot-app
 confs: [default]
 6 artifacts copied, 0 already retrieved (2012kB/64ms)
 
 _ __ | | __ _ _  _
| '_ \| |/ _' | || |
|  __/|_|\____|\__ /
|_|            |__/
 
play 2.2.2 built with Scala 2.10.3 (running Java 1.8.0_102), http://www.playframework.com
Welcome to Play 2.2.2!
 
These commands are available:
-----------------------------
license            Display licensing informations.
new [directory]    Create a new Play application in the specified directory.
 
You can also browse the complete documentation at http://www.playframework.com.

Using Play in an app

  1. Include Play in your app’s Maven install pom.xml file.

  2. Run mvn install in the app’s folder to apply the app’s Maven pom.xml file.

    Here’s an example of the output from the gulpfile:

    [INFO] Scanning for projects...
[INFO]                                                                         
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] Building SAMI Trials Participant 1.0-SNAPSHOT
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] 
[INFO] --- frontend-maven-plugin:0.0.20:install-node-and-npm (install node and npm) @ trials ---
[INFO] Node v0.10.31 is already installed.
[INFO] Found NPM version 1.4.21
[INFO] 
[INFO] --- frontend-maven-plugin:0.0.20:npm (npm install) @ trials ---
[INFO] Running 'npm install --color=false' in /Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials
[INFO] npm WARN package.json simba-tools@0.0.1 No description
[INFO] npm WARN package.json simba-tools@0.0.1 No repository field.
[INFO] npm WARN package.json simba-tools@0.0.1 No README data
[INFO] 
[INFO] --- frontend-maven-plugin:0.0.20:gulp (gulp build) @ trials ---
[INFO] Running 'gulp --no-color' in /Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials
[INFO] [03:30:43] Using gulpfile ~/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials/gulpfile.js
[INFO] [03:30:43] Starting 'default'...
[INFO] [03:30:43] Starting 'clean'...
[INFO] [03:30:43] Finished 'clean' after 6.2 ms
[INFO] [03:30:43] Starting 'iconfont'...
[INFO] [03:30:44] gulp-svgicons2svgfont: Font created!
[INFO] [03:30:44] Finished 'iconfont' after 591 ms
[INFO] [03:30:44] Starting 'browserify'...
[INFO] [03:30:44] Finished 'browserify' after 17 ms
[INFO] [03:30:44] Starting 'css'...
[INFO] [03:30:45] gulp-ruby-sass: directory
[INFO] [03:30:47] gulp-ruby-sass: write trial_participants.css
[INFO]       write trial_participants.css.map
[INFO] [03:30:48] Finished 'css' after 3.83 s
[INFO] [03:30:48] Starting 'copy'...
[INFO] [03:30:48] Finished 'copy' after 323 ms
[INFO] [03:30:48] Finished 'default' after 4.77 s
[INFO] 
[INFO] --- maven-resources-plugin:2.7:resources (default-resources) @ trials ---
[WARNING] Using platform encoding (US-ASCII actually) to copy filtered resources, i.e. build is platform dependent!
[INFO] skip non existing resourceDirectory /Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials/src/main/resources
[INFO] 
[INFO] --- play2-maven-plugin:1.2.4:copy-dependencies (default-copy-dependencies) @ trials ---
[info] akka-testkit_2.10-2.2.3.jar already exists in destination.
[info] akka-actor_2.10-2.2.0.jar already exists in destination.
[info] config-1.0.2.jar already exists in destination.
[info] scala-library-2.10.2.jar already exists in destination.
[INFO] 
[INFO] --- play2-maven-plugin:1.2.4:compile (default-compile) @ trials ---
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM warning: ignoring option MaxPermSize=512M; support was removed in 8.0
Getting org.scala-sbt sbt 0.13.0 ...
:: retrieving :: org.scala-sbt#boot-app
 confs: [default]
 43 artifacts copied, 0 already retrieved (12440kB/173ms)
Getting Scala 2.10.3 (for sbt)...
:: retrieving :: org.scala-sbt#boot-scala
 confs: [default]
 5 artifacts copied, 0 already retrieved (24447kB/163ms)
[info] Loading project definition from /Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials/project
[info] Set current project to TrialsParticipant (in build file:/Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials/)
[info] Updating {file:/Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials/}TrialsParticipant...
[info] Resolving org.hibernate.javax.persistence#hibernate-jpa-2.0-api;1.0.1.Fin[info] Resolving org.fusesource.jansi#jansi;1.4 ...
[info] Done updating.
[info] Compiling 4 Scala sources and 4 Java sources to /Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials/target/scala-2.10/classes...
[warn] Note: /Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials/app/controllers/Main.java uses or overrides a deprecated API.
[warn] Note: Recompile with -Xlint:deprecation for details.
[success] Total time: 7 s, completed Sep 8, 2016 3:32:17 AM
[INFO] 
[INFO] --- maven-resources-plugin:2.7:testResources (default-testResources) @ trials ---
[WARNING] Using platform encoding (US-ASCII actually) to copy filtered resources, i.e. build is platform dependent!
[INFO] skip non existing resourceDirectory /Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials/src/test/resources
[INFO] 
[INFO] --- play2-maven-plugin:1.2.4:test (default-test) @ trials ---
[INFO] Test phase skipped - no tests found
[INFO] 
[INFO] --- play2-maven-plugin:1.2.4:package (default-package) @ trials ---
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM warning: ignoring option MaxPermSize=512M; support was removed in 8.0
[info] Loading project definition from /Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials/project
[info] Set current project to TrialsParticipant (in build file:/Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials/)
[info] Packaging /Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials/target/scala-2.10/trialsparticipant_2.10-1.0-SNAPSHOT.jar ...
[info] Done packaging.
[success] Total time: 1 s, completed Sep 8, 2016 3:32:21 AM
[INFO] Copying trialsparticipant_2.10-1.0-SNAPSHOT.jar to trials.jar
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM warning: ignoring option MaxPermSize=512M; support was removed in 8.0
[info] Loading project definition from /Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials/project
[info] Set current project to TrialsParticipant (in build file:/Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials/)
[info] Packaging /Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials/target/scala-2.10/trialsparticipant_2.10-1.0-SNAPSHOT-sources.jar ...
[info] Done packaging.
[info] Main Scala API documentation to /Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials/target/scala-2.10/api...
[info] Wrote /Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials/target/scala-2.10/trialsparticipant_2.10-1.0-SNAPSHOT.pom
model contains 20 documentable templates
[info] Main Scala API documentation successful.
[info] Packaging /Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials/target/scala-2.10/trialsparticipant_2.10-1.0-SNAPSHOT-javadoc.jar ...
[info] Done packaging.
[info] 
[info] Your package is ready in /Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials/target/universal/trialsparticipant-1.0-SNAPSHOT.zip
[info] 
[success] Total time: 8 s, completed Sep 8, 2016 3:32:33 AM
[INFO] The dist directory does not exist, lookup for the distribution file in target/dist
[INFO] The target/dist directory does not exist, lookup for the distribution file in target/universal
[INFO] Distribution file found : /Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials/target/universal/trialsparticipant-1.0-SNAPSHOT.zip
[INFO] Copying trialsparticipant-1.0-SNAPSHOT.zip to trials.zip
[INFO] Artifact containing sources found - copying to target
[INFO] Artifact containing javadoc found - copying to target
[INFO] 
[INFO] --- play2-maven-plugin:1.2.4:package-war (default-package-war) @ trials ---
[INFO] Skipped War construction
[INFO] 
[INFO] --- maven-install-plugin:2.5.2:install (default-install) @ trials ---
Downloading: https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2/org/apache/maven/shared/maven-shared-utils/0.4/maven-shared-utils-0.4.pom
Downloaded: https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2/org/apache/maven/shared/maven-shared-utils/0.4/maven-shared-utils-0.4.pom (4 KB at 4.3 KB/sec)
Downloading: https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2/org/apache/maven/shared/maven-shared-utils/0.4/maven-shared-utils-0.4.jar
Downloaded: https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2/org/apache/maven/shared/maven-shared-utils/0.4/maven-shared-utils-0.4.jar (152 KB at 449.1 KB/sec)
[INFO] Installing /Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials/target/trials.jar to /Users/mac/.m2/repository/com/samsung/sami/trials/1.0-SNAPSHOT/trials-1.0-SNAPSHOT.jar
[INFO] Installing /Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials/pom.xml to /Users/mac/.m2/repository/com/samsung/sami/trials/1.0-SNAPSHOT/trials-1.0-SNAPSHOT.pom
[INFO] Installing /Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials/target/trials.zip to /Users/mac/.m2/repository/com/samsung/sami/trials/1.0-SNAPSHOT/trials-1.0-SNAPSHOT.zip
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] BUILD SUCCESS
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] Total time: 02:01 min
[INFO] Finished at: 2016-09-08T03:32:35-06:00
[INFO] Final Memory: 18M/193M
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
macs-MacBook-Pro-4:trials mac$ ls
Gulpfile.js	fonts		lib		pom.xml		target
app		icons		node		project
common-js	images		node_modules	public
conf		js		package.json	styles

    Notice that a target folder is created.

  3. Position the pwd to your app’s folder (substituting the sample folder below) and start the app in an internet browser referencing Play’s default port:

    cd ~/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials
    play run –http.port=9000

    Sample response (which can take a minute or two):

    Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM warning: ignoring option MaxPermSize=512M; support was removed in 8.0
[info] Loading project definition from /Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials/project
[info] Set current project to TrialsParticipant (in build file:/Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials/)
[info] Updating {file:/Users/mac/gits/samsung/sami-trials-webapps/trials/}TrialsParticipant...
[info] Resolving org.hibernate.javax.persistence#hibernate-jpa-2.0-api;1.0.1.Fin[info] Resolving org.fusesource.jansi#jansi;1.4 ...
[info] Done updating.
 
--- (Running the application from SBT, auto-reloading is enabled) ---
 
[info] play - Listening for HTTP on /0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:9000
 
(Server started, use Ctrl+D to stop and go back to the console...)

  4. Switch to an internet browser (Chrome or Firefox) referencing Play’s default port:

    localhost:9000

History

Zeroturnaround.com says:

“The origination story of the framework essentially boils down to Java developers being envious of Ruby on Rails developers having a super fast prototyping framework. Play has a binary component similar to the Rails component of RoR, which is used for scaffolding and makes Play a little unconventional as a Java web framework.”

LinkedIn’s move to Play in 2013, by Yevgeniy Birkman:

“Java devs had to spend a quarter of their time waiting for deploy”

Play Framework was published on .