RFC: Apostrophe 3 modules directory name/nesting

In Apostrophe 2.x, the directory containing individual module directories is lib/modules. Having been involved with many Apostrophe sites over the last few years, I’ve only seen other files or directories directly in this root level lib directory a couple of times. To my understanding, nesting modules within the lib directory was originally done due to concern that developers might be confused by having a modules directory as a sibling of the common node_modules directory. There was also desire to keep it feeling like a Node application, rather than a CMS that’s simply using Node, and so the structure was kept more generic.

With Apostrophe 3.x we have a chance to reconsider this. Given that the node_modules directory is such a common concept for Javascript developers and, secondarily, that IDEs typically will fade directories like node_modules that are ignored by git, I’m not totally convinced that developers would have much trouble managing the two directories.

A case for lib/modules:

• There is no change for developers used to the Apostrophe 2.x structure
• This structure will not need to change when upgrading 2.x projects to 3.x.
• If the concern about confusing modules and node_modules is warranted, that confusion will be avoided

A case for modules at project root level:

• Less unnecessary directory nesting
• We’re already requiring much more significant changes to modules when upgrading (e.g., naming, actual code structure), so simply shifting the parent directory to the project root seems trivial
• Arguably cleaner code structure, with the root level telling a clearer “story” of the application, with app.js already on the root level.

[boutell]

So far it looks like everyone likes modules at root level. Greg discussed the hypothetical where lib is the root of the whole project, but also said he prefers a flatter structure, so I assume he’s comfortable if we go with modules.

Are we there?

[boutell]

We are there!