- Divide your classes into business logic and infrastructure (for instance: FirebaseAuth is infrastructure).
DETAILS: What makes sense for me: a) models are classes with business logic ONLY that don't hold state at all (they have const constructors to enforce this). Any side effect is allowed to happen only in external dependencies, which are known to the model only by contracts (an interface (abstract interface class in Dart). I like to call those contract implementations "providers", since they provide the details of something (like database access or authentication). ViewModels then uses models to do a job specific suited for the view that uses it, using the models (also injected). View Models are mutable, because they hold state. That makes things simpler =)
- Whenever appropriate in the widget tree, use the [DependenciesBuilder] widget to initialize the infrastructure and provide it to the widget tree:
(NOTE: DependenciesBuilder will add a scope in the widget tree, but you don't need to do that, since a scope (Dependencies class) is pure Dart (i.e.: it doesn't need Flutter to work)). DependenciesBuilder just makes things easier.
DependenciesBuilder(
dependencies: [
Dependency<IAuthProvider>(
(scope) => FirebaseAuthProvider(),
),
Dependency<PowersyncDatabase>(
(scope) => PowersyncDatabase(
scope<IAuthProvider>(),
scope<IHttpClientProvider>(),
),
dependsOn: [IAuthProvider, IHttpClientProvider],
),
Dependency<IHttpClientProvider>(
(scope) => NativeHttpClientProvider(),
),
Dependency<IAuthDatabaseProvider>(
(scope) => PowersyncAuthDatabaseProvider(scope<PowersyncDatabase>()),
dependsOn: [PowersyncDatabase],
),
Dependency<AuthModel>(
(scope) => AuthModel(
scope<IAuthDatabaseProvider>(),
scope<IAuthProvider>(),
scope<IDeviceInfoProvider>(),
scope<IBlurHashProvider>(),
),
dependsOn: [
IAuthDatabaseProvider,
IAuthProvider,
IDeviceInfoProvider,
IBlurHashProvider,
],
),
Dependency<IDeviceInfoProvider>(
(scope) => DeviceInfoProvider(),
),
Dependency<IBlurHashProvider>(
(scope) => FFIBlurHashProvider(),
),
],
builder: (context, scope) => const MainApp(),
);Notice that each dependency can depend on other dependencies. There is no need to worry about registration order, as the [DependenciesBuilder] will automatically resolve the dependencies in the correct order.
Dependencies that implement [IInitializable] will be initialized automatically when the [DependenciesBuilder] is built (which happens when the widget tree is built).
When a [DependencyBuilder] gets out of scope, it will be disposed automatically, along with any dependencies that implement [IDisposable]. [ChangeNotifier.dispose] will also be called on dispose.
- Use the [ViewModelStatelessWidget] class to create a stateless widget that requires a view model:
TIP: You here have two choices: if you want to make your view model free of this framework, then you inject what you need in the constructor, just like the example provided. But, some people, like me, don't like that, because adding or removing dependencies have now two places to change (the constructor and the factory method). In that case, you can then pass the scope to your class and then use it to create what you need inside the class. Only one place to change it, but now your class has a dependency of this framework (the Dependencies class, which is the scope of dependencies that allows you to resolve them). As anything in reality, it is always a tradeoff.
ALSO: ViewModelStatelessWidget<MainAppViewModel> is only a helper. You don't heed to use it if you don't want. All it does is wrap your view model inside a DependenciesBuilder widget (so your view model is a dependency in the same way any other dependency is) and then it uses an internal stateful builder to hold that view model in the tree, initializing and disposing of it as needed. You can, if you want, construct, initialize and dispose your view model yourself and, since it is a ChangeNotifier, you don't need any of my code to actually use it (a simple ValueListenableBuilder will do the trick)
final class MainApp extends ViewModelStatelessWidget<MainAppViewModel> {
const MainApp({super.key});
@override
MainAppViewModel Function(Dependencies scope) get factory =>
(scope) => MainAppViewModel(scope<AuthModel>());
@override
Widget buildView(BuildContext context, MainAppViewModel viewModel) {
return MaterialApp(
home: viewModel.isAuthenticated ? const HomeView() : const LoginView(),
);
}
}In this class, you will have access to the [MainAppViewModel] instance, that was created using the dependencies registered in the [DependenciesBuilder].
The ViewModel is just a simple [ChangeNotifier] class that uses models (business logic):
final class MainAppViewModel extends ChangeNotifier
implements IInitializable, IDisposable {
MainAppViewModel(AuthModel authModel) : _authModel = authModel;
final AuthModel _authModel;
bool _isAuthenticated = false;
bool get isAuthenticated => _isAuthenticated;
StreamSubscription<bool>? _isAuthenticatedStreamSubscription;
@override
Future<void> initialize() async {
_isAuthenticatedStreamSubscription =
_authModel.isAuthenticatedStream.listen(_onAuthChanged);
_isAuthenticated = _authModel.isAuthenticated;
logDebug("IsAuthenticated = ${isAuthenticated}");
}
@override
void dispose() {
super.dispose();
_isAuthenticatedStreamSubscription?.cancel();
}
void _onAuthChanged(bool isAuthenticated) {
if (_isAuthenticated == isAuthenticated) {
return;
}
logDebug("AuthChanging to ${isAuthenticated}");
_isAuthenticated = isAuthenticated;
notifyListeners();
}
void signOut() {
logDebug("Signing out");
_authModel.signOut();
}
}
- Business logic is just a simple class that uses the infrastructure required by its contracts (so it is testable and you can easily change a dependency if you need so (for instance, change FirebaseAuth to Auth-0)):
final class AuthModel {
AuthModel(
IAuthDatabaseProvider authRepository,
IAuthProvider authProviderModel,
IDeviceInfoProvider deviceInfoModel,
IBlurHashProvider blurHashModel,
) : _authRepository = authRepository,
_authProviderModel = authProviderModel,
_deviceInfoModel = deviceInfoModel,
_blurHashModel = blurHashModel;
final IAuthDatabaseProvider _authRepository;
final IAuthProvider _authProviderModel;
final IDeviceInfoProvider _deviceInfoModel;
final IBlurHashProvider _blurHashModel;
bool get isAuthenticated => _authProviderModel.isAuthenticated;
Stream<bool> get isAuthenticatedStream =>
_authProviderModel.isAuthenticatedStream;
Future<void> initialize() async {
if (isAuthenticated == false) {
return;
}
final token = await _authProviderModel.getUserToken();
switch (token) {
case None<UserToken>():
signOut();
case Some<UserToken>():
await _getPrincipalFromRepository(token.value.userId);
}
}
Future<SignInResult> signInWithApple() async {
return _signIn(_authProviderModel.signInWithApple);
}
Future<SignInResult> signInWithGoogle() async {
return _signIn(_authProviderModel.signInWithGoogle);
}
Future<SignInResult> _signIn(
Future<SignInResult> Function() signInHandler,
) async {
final signInResult = await signInHandler();
logInfo("Sign in result: ${signInResult}");
if (signInResult is! SuccessSignInResult) {
return signInResult;
}
return _getPrincipalFromRepository(signInResult.userId);
}
Future<SignInResult> _getPrincipalFromRepository(String userId) async {
final result =
await _authRepository.initializePreviouslyAuthenticatedPrincipal(
userId,
);
return switch (result) {
OpenRepositoryFailureQueryResult<Principal>() =>
ExceptionSignInResult(result.failure, StackTrace.current),
ExceptionQueryResult<Principal>() => ExceptionSignInResult(
result.exception,
result.stackTrace,
),
EmptyQueryResult<Principal>() => _getPrincipalFromAuthProvider(),
SuccessQueryResult<Principal>() => _sanitizePrincipal(result.data),
};
}
Future<SignInResult> _getPrincipalFromAuthProvider() async {
final result = await _authProviderModel.createPrincipalFromCurrentUser();
return switch (result) {
Some<Principal>() => _sanitizePrincipal(result.value),
None<Principal>() => ExceptionSignInResult(
StateError("User is unauthenticated in auth provider"),
StackTrace.current,
),
};
}
Future<SignInResult> _sanitizePrincipal(Principal principal) async {
logInfo("Sanitizing principal");
if (principal.email.isEmpty) {
logError(
"No e-mail provided",
ArgumentError.notNull("email"),
StackTrace.current,
);
return const EmptyEmailSignInResult();
}
if (principal.name.isEmpty) {
principal = principal.copyWith(
name: principal.email.split("@").first.split("+").first,
);
}
return _generateAvatarBlurHash(principal);
}
Future<SignInResult> _generateAvatarBlurHash(Principal principal) async {
if (principal.avatarUrl.isEmpty) {
return _getDeviceInfo(principal.copyWith(avatarBlurHash: ""));
}
final result = await _blurHashModel.generateRemoteImageHash(
principal.avatarUrl,
);
switch (result) {
case Some():
return _getDeviceInfo(
principal.copyWith(avatarBlurHash: result.value),
);
case None():
return _getDeviceInfo(principal);
}
}
Future<SignInResult> _getDeviceInfo(Principal principal) async {
final result = await _deviceInfoModel.getDeviceInfo();
return switch (result) {
Some() => _persistSignInData(principal, result.value),
None() => ExceptionSignInResult(
ArgumentError.notNull("deviceInfo"),
StackTrace.current,
),
};
}
Future<SignInResult> _persistSignInData(
Principal principal,
DeviceInfo deviceInfo,
) async {
final repositoryResult = await _authRepository.persistSignInData(
principal,
deviceInfo,
);
if (repositoryResult is! SuccessMutationResult) {
return ExceptionSignInResult(repositoryResult, StackTrace.current);
}
final providerResult = await _authProviderModel.persistSignInData(
principal,
);
if (providerResult is! SuccessMutationResult) {
return ExceptionSignInResult(providerResult, StackTrace.current);
}
return SuccessSignInResult(principal.id);
}
Future<Option<UserToken>> getUserToken() => _authProviderModel.getUserToken();
void signOut() {
_authProviderModel.signOut();
_authRepository.close();
}
}- Done. Other then [DependenciesBuilder] and [ViewModelStatelessWidget], there is no framework dependency here, you can ditch us whenever you want. No need to learn a new framework. You are versed in BLoC but your frenemy is versed in Riverpod? You both can be fired together by someone who keeps the things simpler.