From 29b16b537144e46f876d27c3f16a2e2d8270daf9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Joe Kaufeld <opensource@joekaufeld.com>
Date: Wed, 21 Aug 2024 22:31:21 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] :memo: add basic information to readme

---
 README.md | 63 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
 1 file changed, 62 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 053df14..0e37a7c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,3 +1,64 @@
 # spiderweb
 
-A learning opportunity for a web framework.
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+As a professional web developer focusing on arcane uses of Django for arcane purposes, it occurred to me a little while ago that I didn't actually know how a web framework _worked_.
+
+So I built one.
+
+`spiderweb` is a small web framework, just big enough to hold a spider. Getting started is easy:
+
+```shell
+poetry add spiderweb-framework
+```
+
+Create a new file and drop this in it:
+
+```python
+from spiderweb import SpiderwebRouter
+from spiderweb.response import HttpResponse
+
+app = SpiderwebRouter()
+
+@app.route("/")
+def index(request):
+    return HttpResponse("HELLO, WORLD!")
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    app.start()
+```
+
+My goal with this framework was to do three things:
+
+  1. Learn a lot
+  2. Create an unholy blend of Django and Flask
+  3. Not look at any existing code. Go off of vibes alone and try to solve all the problems I could think of in my own way
+
+And, honestly, I think I got there. Here's a non-exhaustive list of things this can do:
+
+  * Function-based views
+  * Optional Flask-style URL routing
+  * Optional Django-style URL routing
+  * URLs with variables in them a lá Django
+  * Gunicorn support
+  * Full middleware implementation
+  * Limit routes by HTTP verbs
+  * Custom error routes
+  * Built-in dev server
+  * HTML templates with Jinja2
+  * Static files support
+  * Cookies (reading and setting)
+  * Optional append_slash (with automatic redirects!)
+  * ~~CSRF middleware implementation~~ (it's there, but it's crappy and unsafe. I'm working on it.)
+  * Optional POST data validation middleware with Pydantic
+
+The TODO list:
+
+  * Tests (important)
+  * Database support
+  * Session middleware
+  * Fix CSRF middleware once database support is included
+
+Once tests are in and proven to work, then I'll release as version 1.0.
+
+More documentation to follow!
+
+If you're reading this on GitHub, this repository is a public mirror of https://git.joekaufeld.com/jkaufeld/spiderweb.
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