README

README.md

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+Redux Action Emitter
+====================
+
+This is an experimental module for representing Redux actions as events. In this model, reducers become observers, switch statements become event listeners, and `dispatch()` emits events.
+
+
+How to use it
+-------------
+
+`npm install redux-actionemitter`
+
+Action Emitter has two parts: the `eventReducer` and the `emitterMiddleware`. You can use either in isolation, or both together.
+
+
+emitterMiddleware
+-----------------
+
+Attach the `emitterMiddleware` to your `store` like so:
+
+```javascript
+import { createStore, applyMiddleware } from 'redux';
+import { emitterMiddleware } from 'redux-actionemitter';
+
+const applyStore = applyMiddleware(emitterMiddleware, logger)(createStore);
+```
+
+This lets you use an EventEmitter-compatible version of `dispatch`:
+```javascript
+dispatch('EVENT_NAME', { data: 'goes here' });
+```
+
+Under the hood, it sets the `type` property of the object to the event name you provide. It's backwards-compatible, so you can still dispatch plain JS objects by providing only one argument.
+
+
+eventReducer
+------------
+
+Initialise your reducer with the initial state, then add event listeners for each action you want to listen to. Your event listener *must* return a value synchronously, just like a regular reducer.
+
+```javascript
+import { eventReducer } from 'redux-actionemitter';
+
+const reducer = eventReducer([]);
+
+reducer.on('ADD_SNOWMAN', (state, action) => state.concat(['☃']));
+
+export default reducer;
+```
+
+Much like `emitterMiddleware`, this looks at the `type` of the action object to trigger the event listeners.