New create-panda-app script

[AdamPuzio]

After thinking about how to simplify the introduction process, I've decided to replicate one of the best onboarding tools out there: create-react-app.

The goal: create a script that will generate a new Project by simply typing npx create-panda-app <appname>.

Questions:

• What will be the default setup for this new project?
• What parameters can be passed?
• What should the directory structure look like?
• How should the CLI utilities be implemented to then allow for the creation of additional entities?
• What dependencies should be included?

[AdamPuzio]

General thoughts:

Includes:

• primary files
  • package.json
  • project.json
  • index.js - contains the code to run app via panda
• starter app
  • routes - single starter page?
  • services - simple, basic services to showcase setup and usage
  • static - includes build files and other static files
  • source - source directory for js/x and scss files to process
  • ui
    • components
    • views
• dependencies
  • panda
• dev dependencies
  • build module
  • test module
  • css module
  • lint module
• scripts
  • start
  • build
  • test
• tools
  • build tool - webpack or vite
  • test tool - jest
  • css tool - sass
  • lint tool - standardjs

Notes:

• should the default setup be simple (single starter page) or more complex to show off the capabilities and patterns with routing, services and rendering different ui elements?
• can we install a CLI as a dev dependency and then call that via a script to allow entities to be created from within the project, but not bloat a non-dev install?
• how do we create a live instance for development (using source files), but change it to using built files when running in production?
• should the build directory be a second static directory or build directly in /static?
• should the default build be a react app or something more simple?

[AdamPuzio]

Flags:

General:
-i, --interactive: Run setup in interactive mode
This will run the create-panda-app in interactive mode, which prompts you specific questions about how to set up and configure the application.

Project setup:
--setup-type: The level of setup (complete|simple|empty)

App settings:
--port: the port to run the app on (default:5000)
--build-tool: the build tool to use (webpack|vite|gulp)
--test-tool: testing framework to use (jest|mocha)
--css-tool: css preprocessor to use (sass|less)
--lint-tool: linting tool to use (standardjs|jslint|eslint)

[AdamPuzio]

Other possible includes or configurations (either by default or via flags):

• docker/kubernetes file
• storybook
• ui framework to use (vanilla/react/angular/lit/vue)
• process manager (pm2/forever)
• compiler
• script type (commonJs/ES6)

Potential scaffolding scripts:

• create-panda-app - create a simple web app
• create-panda-api - create an API with services
• create-panda-cli - create a CLI utility
• create-panda-cms - create a web app with a CMS backend
• create-panda-dashboard - create a dashboard