Introducing APON.js: Bringing APON to the JavaScript World

If you’ve used the Aspectran framework, you’re likely familiar with the convenience and readability of APON (Aspectran Parameters Object Notation), created for writing configuration files. While it has been a powerful tool in Java applications, there was one thing missing.

“What if we could use the convenient APON format in our web front-end or Node.js environment?”

This question was the starting point for the APON.js project.

And today, we are proud to present its first fruit: APON.js v1.0.0!

What is APON.js?

APON.js is a lightweight, zero-dependency library that allows you to handle the APON format natively in a JavaScript environment. Now, you can parse and create APON strings as naturally as you would use JSON.parse() or JSON.stringify() in your web browser or Node.js projects.

✨ Key Features

• APON.parse(text): A powerful parser that converts APON-formatted strings into standard JavaScript objects. It correctly handles nested objects, arrays, comments, multi-line text blocks, and various data types.
• APON.stringify(object): A flexible stringifier that converts JavaScript objects into clean, human-readable APON strings. It automatically handles indentation and quoting for you.
• Zero-Dependency: Written in pure JavaScript (ES6) without any external libraries, ensuring a small footprint and no extra baggage for your project.
• Broad Environment Support: Works flawlessly in all modern web browsers and Node.js environments.

🚀 Getting Started

You can install apon.js right now via npm.

npm install apon

Basic Usage

const APON = require('apon');

// 1. Parse an APON string
const aponText = `
  # Application Configuration
  appName: APON.js Demo
  version: 1.0.0
  debugMode: true
`;
const config = APON.parse(aponText);

console.log(config.appName); // "APON.js Demo"

// 2. Stringify a JavaScript object
const dbConfig = {
  database: {
    host: "localhost",
    port: 5432,
    users: ["admin", "readonly"]
  }
};
const newAponText = APON.stringify(dbConfig);

console.log(newAponText);
/*
database: {
  host: localhost
  port: 5432
  users: [
    admin
    readonly
  ]
}
*/

🌐 Live Demo

Seeing is believing. You can test out all the features of apon.js right now with our interactive demo.

Try the APON.js Interactive Demo Now!

What’s Next?

With this first version as our starting point, we plan to continue improving apon.js. Our goal is to optimize performance and fully support more of the advanced features found in the Java implementation within the JavaScript environment.

We welcome interest and feedback from the Aspectran community and JavaScript developers everywhere. We hope apon.js helps make your projects just a little bit cleaner.

• GitHub Repository: https://github.com/aspectran/apon.js