periodicjs/doc/getting_started.md

Periodic is a rapid enterprise application framework for data driven web and mobile applications.

# Getting Started


![Getting started](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/repetere/periodicjs/master/doc/images/getting-started/01-setup-install.gif)

With Periodic 10, you can get up and running with periodic with zero configuration. It takes 30 seconds to create your first application server with periodic.

```console
$ npm install periodicjs -g 
$ periodicjs setup [name-of-application] 
$ cd [name-of-application]
$ npm install
$ npm start [name of environment]
```

## The four step install
1. Install periodic globally to use the Command Line Interface (CLI)
2. Create a new application
3. Change directory to your new **application root** and Install periodic's dependencies
4. Start your application

### 1. Install periodic globally to use the CLI (optional) 

```
$ npm install periodicjs -g 
```
Periodic comes with a built in CLI, REPL and other tools to fast track development. Using the CLI is completely optional. 

### 2. Create a new node application with the CLI (optional)

```
$ periodicjs setup [name-of-application]
```
The `setup` command will create a zero-configuration scaffolded node.js web application.
* The `setup` command create's a new directory for your application, this directory is what is referred to as the `app_root` or your **application root**.
* After your `app_root` directory is created, two scaffolded `package.json` and `index.js` files are created  

#### index.js
```javascript
//example ES6 import periodic from 'periodic'; //periodic singleton
//example index.js - ES5
'use strict';
const periodic = require('periodicjs'); //periodic singleton
periodic.init()
  .then(console.log.bind(console)) //log startup status
  .catch(console.error.bind(console)) //log any errors
```

#### package.json
```json
{
  "name": "[name-of-application]",
  "description": "Simple app server.",
  "version": "0.0.1",
  "main": "index.js",
  "engines": {
    "node": "^6.x"
  },
  "scripts": {
    "start": "node index.js --e",
    "test": "mocha -R spec --recursive"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "periodicjs": "^10.0.0"
  }
}
```

### 3. Change directory to your new **application root** and install periodic dependencies

```
$ cd [name-of-application] 
$ npm install
```

The scaffolded `package.json` file only has one dependency **periodicjs**. In order to use multiple databases you may need to install other dependencies (read more about configuring periodic). 


### 4. Start your application 

```
$ npm start [name of environment]
```

Periodic requires a runtime environment to be defined when your application starts. Your periodic application can have an unlimited number of environments all with different configuration settings. 

NEXT: [ How Periodic works ](https://github.com/repetere/periodicjs/blob/master/doc/README.md)