Flash messages are an anti-pattern

Transcript

1. Flash messages are an anti-pattern
   claudiob.github.io
   ©Bombattack
   

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2. $ rails new club
   $ cd club
   $ rails g scaffold member name age:integer
   $ rake db:create db:migrate && rails s
   What are flash messages?
   

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3. $ rails new club
   $ cd club
   $ rails g scaffold member name age:integer
   $ rake db:create db:migrate && rails s
   What are flash messages?
   

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4. $ rails new club
   $ cd club
   $ rails g scaffold member name age:integer
   $ rake db:create db:migrate && rails s
   What are flash messages?
   

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5. $ rails new club
   $ cd club
   $ rails g scaffold member name age:integer
   $ rake db:create db:migrate && rails s
   What are flash messages?
   

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6. $ rails new club
   $ cd club
   $ rails g scaffold member name age:integer
   $ rake db:create db:migrate && rails s
   What are flash messages?
   

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7. $ rails new club
   $ cd club
   $ rails g scaffold member name age:integer
   $ rake db:create db:migrate && rails s
   What are flash messages?
   

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8. $ rails new club
   $ cd club
   $ rails g scaffold member name age:integer
   $ rake db:create db:migrate && rails s
   What are flash messages?
   

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9. $ rails new club
   $ cd club
   $ rails g scaffold member name age:integer
   $ rake db:create db:migrate && rails s
   What are flash messages?
   

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10. $ rails new club
    $ cd club
    $ rails g scaffold member name age:integer
    $ rake db:create db:migrate && rails s
    What are flash messages?
    

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11. $ rails new club
    $ cd club
    $ rails g scaffold member name age:integer
    $ rake db:create db:migrate && rails s
    What are flash messages?
    

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12. $ rails new club
    $ cd club
    $ rails g scaffold member name age:integer
    $ rake db:create db:migrate && rails s
    What are flash messages?
    

    View Slide

13. $ rails new club
    $ cd club
    $ rails g scaffold member name age:integer
    $ rake db:create db:migrate && rails s
    What are flash messages?
    

    View Slide

14. $ rails new club
    $ cd club
    $ rails g scaffold member name age:integer
    $ rake db:create db:migrate && rails s
    What are flash messages?
    

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15. What bad can flash messages do?
    1.Disappear after reload
    2.Distort the attention of the user
    3.Are target of designers’ minimalism
    4.Are not mobile-friendly
    def create
    @member = Member.new(member_params)
    respond_to do |format|
    if @member.save
    format.html { redirect_to @member,
    notice: 'Member was successfully created.' }
    format.json { render :show, status: :created} […]
    

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16. What bad can flash messages do?
    1.Disappear after reload
    2.Distort the attention of the user
    3.Are target of designers’ minimalism
    4.Are not mobile-friendly
    def create
    @member = Member.new(member_params)
    respond_to do |format|
    if @member.save
    format.html { redirect_to @member,
    notice: 'Member was successfully created.' }
    format.json { render :show, status: :created} […]
    

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17. What bad can flash messages do?
    1.Disappear after reload
    2.Distort the attention of the user
    3.Are target of designers’ minimalism
    4.Are not mobile-friendly
    5.Require hacks to work with Javascript
    6.Require I18N in the controller
    7.Are not cache-friendly
    def create
    @member = Member.new(member_params)
    respond_to do |format|
    if @member.save
    format.html { redirect_to @member,
    notice: 'Member was successfully created.' }
    format.json { render :show, status: :created} […]
    

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18. Symptoms of a problem
    We are not “sure” of the value of the
    information, so we choose a middle-
    ground of “showing it only once”.
    By doing this, we go against the REST
    paradigms of individual resources and
    nullipotence of the GET method.
    

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19. How to avoid flash messages
    # On successful create
    redirect_to @member,
    notice: 'Member was successfully created.'
    

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20. How to avoid flash messages
    # On successful create
    redirect_to @member,
    notice: 'Member was successfully created.'
    

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21. How to avoid flash messages
    # On successful update
    redirect_to @member,
    notice: 'Member was successfully updated.'
    

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22. How to avoid flash messages
    # On successful update
    redirect_to @member,
    notice: 'Member was successfully updated.'
    

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23. How to avoid flash messages
    # On successful update
    redirect_to @member,
    notice: 'Member was successfully updated.'
    

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24. How to avoid flash messages
    # On successful destroy (from index)
    redirect_to members_url,
    notice: 'Member was successfully destroyed.'
    

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25. How to avoid flash messages
    # On successful destroy (from index)
    redirect_to members_url,
    notice: 'Member was successfully destroyed.'
    

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26. How to avoid flash messages
    # On successful destroy (from index)
    redirect_to members_url,
    notice: 'Member was successfully destroyed.'
    

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27. How to avoid flash messages
    # On successful destroy (from show)
    redirect_to members_url,
    notice: 'Member was successfully destroyed.’
    

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28. How to avoid flash messages
    # On successful destroy (from show)
    redirect_to members_url,
    notice: 'Member was successfully destroyed.’
    

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29. How to avoid flash messages
    # On successful destroy (from show)
    redirect_to members_url,
    notice: 'Member was successfully destroyed.’
    redirect_to :back
    

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30. How to avoid flash messages
    # On successful destroy (from show)
    redirect_to members_url,
    notice: 'Member was successfully destroyed.’
    redirect_to :back
    

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31. How to avoid flash messages
    # db/migrate/20160114174326_add_status_to_member.rb
    class AddStatusToMember < ActiveRecord::Migration
    def change
    add_column :members, :status, :integer,
    default: 0, null: false
    end
    end
    # app/models/member.rb
    class Member < ActiveRecord::Base
    enum status: %i(active inactive)
    end
    

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32. How to avoid flash messages
    # app/controllers/members_controller.rb
    class MembersController < ApplicationController
    def destroy
    @member.destroy
    end
    def index
    @members = Member.all
    end
    def show
    end
    end
    @member.inactive!
    Member.active
    render @member.status
    

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33. How to avoid flash messages
    # app/views/members/active.html.erb
    
    Last updated:
    <%= time_ago_in_words @member.updated_at %> ago
    
    
    Name:
    […] # it’s just show.html.erb renamed
    # app/views/members/inactive.html.erb
    This user is no longer active.
    <%= link_to 'Back', members_path %>
    

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34. How to avoid flash messages
    # On successful destroy (from show)
    redirect_to members_url,
    notice: 'Member was successfully destroyed.’
    redirect_to :back
    

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35. How to avoid flash messages
    # On successful destroy (from show)
    redirect_to members_url,
    notice: 'Member was successfully destroyed.’
    redirect_to :back
    

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36. Summing up
    We give “for granted” flash messages in
    Rails, but reasoning about them can
    lead to a better user experience.
    The real minimalism is not to hide
    flash messages, but to remove the
    reasons why we need them.
    

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37. How to resist the temptation
    # config/application.rb
    module Club
    class Application < Rails::Application
    config.middleware.delete ActionDispatch::Flash
    end
    end
    Thanks! !
    speakerdeck.com/claudiob
    

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