============================================================================ 2. BASE CONTROLLER

Base class for all Neuron controllers.

Controllers in Neuron serve as the business logic layer, managing state (signals) and operations. They extend NeuronController to get automatic disposal and lifecycle hooks.

Lifecycle

Controllers have two lifecycle hooks:

• onInit: Called once after the controller is registered via Neuron.install or Neuron.ensure
• onClose: Called before the controller is disposed via Neuron.uninstall

Auto-disposal

Any signal that calls SignalBinding.bind with the controller will be automatically disposed when the controller is disposed.

Signal Creation Syntax

Three equivalent ways to create bound signals:

class MyController extends NeuronController {
  // 1. Verbose: explicit constructor + bind
  late final count1 = Signal<int>(0).bind(this);

  // 2. Clean: factory methods (recommended)
  late final count2 = signal(0);
  late final doubled = computed(() => count2.val * 2);
  late final user = asyncSignal<User>();

  // 3. Ultra-short: $ prefix
  late final count3 = $(0);
  late final tripled = $computed(() => count3.val * 3);
  late final posts = $async<List<Post>>();
}

Lifecycle Hooks

class MyController extends NeuronController {
  late final count = signal(0);

  @override
  void onInit() {
    print('Controller initialized');
  }

  @override
  void onClose() {
    print('Controller disposed');
  }
}

Static Init Pattern

The recommended pattern is to provide a static getter:

static MyController get init => Neuron.ensure<MyController>(() => MyController());

This ensures the controller is created once and reused across the app.

Lifecycle

• onInit: Called when the controller is first created.
• onClose: Called when the controller is disposed.

Side Effects

Use effect to run code in response to signal changes.

@override
void onInit() {
  effect(() {
    print('Count changed: ${count.value}');
  }, [count]);
}

See also:

• Neuron - Service locator for managing controllers
• SignalBinding - Extension for auto-disposal