Getting Started

This library aims to provide an easy way to manage non-relational database objects in Javascript using an Object Oriented approach, implementing the Active Record (opens new window) pattern. It provides a system to define database entities using models and delegates the communication with the database to engines in a customizable way.

To get started, add the package as an npm dependency:

npm install soukai --save

Initialize the library with the engine of your choice. One good option to start tinkering is an InMemoryEngine (opens new window), which will only store information in memory.

import { setEngine, InMemoryEngine } from 'soukai';

setEngine(new InMemoryEngine());

Once everything is set up, you can start using models to interact with the database. Look at the following example on creating and retrieving users:

import { Model, InMemoryEngine } from 'soukai';

class User extends Model {}

setEngine(new InMemoryEngine());

await User.create({ name: 'John', surname: 'Doe' });

const users = await User.all();

console.log('user models', users.map(user => user.getAttributes()));

Try it yourself!

Note how all operations interacting with the database return a Promise. This, coupled with the fact that the actual communication is implemented using engines, makes the library available both for client side and server side applications.

This project is heavily influenced by Laravel Eloquent ORM (opens new window), the two main differences being that Laravel is implemented in PHP and intended for relational databases (hence ORM - Object Relational Mapper). If you are already familiar with Laravel it should be easy to get started with Soukai, but it's recommended to skim through the documentation anyways to be aware of the differences.