Are there any Backbone.js tutorials that teach ".sync" with the server?

Question

I read many Backbone.js tutorials, but most of them deal with static objects.

Of course, I have data on the server. I want a tutorial that shows how backbone.js can communicate with the server to fetch data, post data, etc.

This is .sync, right? I read the backbone.js documentation, but still fuzzy on how to use this feature.

Or can someone show me an example?

According to: http://documentcloud.github.com/backbone/#Sync

Backbone.sync is the function that Backbone calls every time it attempts to read or save a model to the server.

But when? Where do I put the function? I don't know how to use it, and the documentation doesn't give any examples. When does the data get loaded into my models? I get to define when...right?

Answer 1

You never really have to look at .sync, unless you plan to overwrite it. For normal uses, you can simply call model.save() whenever you want and that will execute a post or put (depending on whether the record exists already). If you want to get the data from your backend, use collection.fetch()

You'll of course also need to specify a URL, do so through your collection attribute, collection.url

Answer 2

You can override Backbones native sync functionality if you override it:

Backbone.sync = function() {
  //Your custom impl here
}

After that this function is called whenever you call a backbone function like .save() on models or .fetch() on collections. You do not have to care about data transport anymore.

I would suggest taking a look into Backbones source and look how the default sync function is implemented. Then create your own or adopt your server to support the native function.