Learn Immutable, Nginx and Svgo

In this course, we will dive into a number of different ways we can create, optimize and integrate an SVG icon set. There are pros and cons to each method, so we’ll dissect each approach so you can make an informed decision for your project. We will learn how to use build tools to automate the process of creating, manipulating and optimizing icons. We’ll take a look at how to use CSS to manipulate styles on an SVG and even how to integrate your SVG icons in a React project.

Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is an XML-based vector image format for two-dimensional graphics with support for interactivity and animation. The SVG specification is an open standard developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) since 1999. SVG images and their behaviors are defined in XML text files.

svgo

Create an SVG Icon System

im·mu·ta·ble i(m)ˈmyo͞odəb(ə)l/ adjective - **unchanging over time or unable to be changed**.

Mutating data is the source of never ending headaches in software systems, and JavaScript code is no exception. Immutable data structures, pure functions, uni-directional data flow... you've probably been hearing these terms.

Immutable.js provides us the data structures and utilities that we need to start introducing this powerful concept of immutability into our applications.

Immutable.js provides many Persistent Immutable data structures including: List, Stack, Map, OrderedMap, Set, OrderedSet and Record.

immutable

Learn how to use Immutable.js

Immutable.js offers methods to break  immutable structures into subsets much like Array--for instance it has the all powerful slice()--and unlike Array it offers functional methods like take() and skip(). You get the best of both the imperative and functional worlds.

Working with Subsets of an Immutable.js Map()

Equality checking deeply nested objects is painful. Fortunately Immutable.js makes this task easy with its .is() and .isSubset() methods. Let's see how we can take two different Immutable Maps() and check for equality.

Equality Checking with .is() and More

Immutable.js offers the fromJS() method to build immutable structures from objects and array. Objects are converted into maps. Arrays are converted into lists. The fromJS() method can also take a reviver function for custom conversions.

Using fromJS() to Convert Plain JavaScript Objects into Immutable Data

Understanding Immutable.js's Map() and List() structures will likely take you as far as you want to go with immutable programming. They have only small semantic differences between each other and the remaining structures in the Immutable.js family. Sequence, however, has one major difference: it's lazy--which opens a new realm of functional possibilities. Let's write a simple sequence to start.

Exploring Sequences and Range() in Immutable.js

Immutable.js iterables offer the reduce() method, a powerful and often misunderstood functional operator on which map(), filter(), groupBy(), etc. are built. The concept is simple: reduce transforms your iterable into something else, that's all. The name is misleading as you may or may not actually "reduce" anything. Let's replicate the groupBy() and filter() methods with reduce to illustrate how it works.

Transforming Immutable Data with Reduce

While Immutable.js offers .is() to confirm value equality between iterables it comes at the cost of referencing each key and value in both objects. For lightning fast equality checks, Immutable.js can produce a hash code based on an iterable's content. If two iterables have the same content, their hash codes will be the same. It's worth noting that this technique is unsuitable for mission critical application development since there is a chance, however slight, that checksums like these might collide. This is outlined here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collision_(computer_science)

Lightning Fast Immutable.js Equality Checks with Hash Codes

The Immutable.js Record() allows you to model your immutable data much like you would model data with native Javascript classes or objects. It differs from native classes because it cannot be mutated after it's creation and it *always* has a default value. It's an excellent construct in which to piece together your stores, be them Flux or some other storage implementation. Let's quickly create an Immutable Record().

Immutable.Record() as data models

Just like a bitmap image, you can compress an SVG by removing various pieces of code that aren’t necessary to it rendering properly. This reduces file size & download time, ultimately leading to a faster page load speed. You’ll learn how to automate the process of compressing your SVGs using `svgo` in the command line.

For a full list of options and plugins available to use with `svgo`, [check out their documentation](https://github.com/svg/svgo).

Note: This lesson assumes you have `npm` installed.

Optimize SVGs for Better Performance using svgo

In this lesson, we’ll explore the process of combining all of your SVG icons into one SVG sprite, to be included directly into markup. We’ll use the command line, along with the `svgo` and `svg-sprite-generator` npm packages to automate the process of compressing the SVGs and creating the sprite.

_Note:_ This lesson assumes you have `npm` installed.

Combine Multiple SVGs into an SVG Sprite

Immutable.js's Map doesn't promise iteration order after a set() operation. When we need a guarantee for iteration order, we can use OrderedMap. This comes at a slight performance cost, or for you computer science people, it is amortized at an unstable O(log32 N). Let's explore ordering. 

Maintaining Order in Immutable.js Objects

NGINX is a free, open-source, high-performance HTTP server and reverse proxy, as well as an IMAP/POP3 proxy server. 

nginx

Learn about the concepts of managing data within Docker volumes, including all of the commands to create and manage volumes. We'll demonstrate how to mount a Docker volume to one or many containers by creating and mounting a volume to an Nginx proxy, and then verify the output with curl. You'll also see how changes to files within volumes of one container propagate to other containers with the same volume mounted, and learn various commands to inspect Docker volumes.

Manage Data within Docker Volumes

Learn how Immutable.js data structures are different from native iterable Javascript data types and why they provide an excellent foundation on which to build your application's state.

Manage Application State with Immutable.js

Immutable.js provides several methods to iterate over an Immutable.Map(). These also apply to the other immutable structures found within the Immutable.js family, such as Set and List. The primary methods are map and forEach, but we will also cover filter and groupBy.

Iterating Over an Immutable.js Map()

Learn how to query an Immutable.Map() using get, getIn, has, includes, find, first and last. These are powerful operators that make finding data in an object graph pain free. 

Querying an Immutable.js Map()

There are lots of techniques for accessing data kept in your Lists. In this lesson, we will compare how data stored in collections can be accessed directly in both standard Arrays and ImmutableJS Lists. We will also look at how to find data inside an Immutable List using the `findEntry` and `findIndex` methods.

Get items in an ImmutableJS List

The reduce function in ImmutableJS allows you to transform and create new data from an existing data structure. In this example, we will do some math and calculate a sum based on data in an ImmutableJS Map.

Calculate a sum using reduce in ImmutableJS

The Immutable.js Map() is analogous to a Javascript Object or Hash since it is comprised of key-value pairs. The Immutable.js List() is analogous to a Javascript Array and contains many of the same native methods. Let's compare the two and dive into the basics of List().

Differences between the Immutable.js Map() and List()

Learn how to create an Immutable.Map() through plain Javascript object construction and also via array tuples. 

Creating an Immutable Object Graph with Immutable.js Map()

Immutable.js provides several conversion methods to migrate one structure to another. Each Immutable.js class contains a prefixed "to" method like Map.toList(), Map.toSet(), etc. Converting these types sometimes results in a loss of data, as we will see when converting from Map to List.