The major steps in the request handling process are:

refresh eventually modified modules in develop mode

This allows a perl developer to change perl modules being used in a Jifty application without the need to restart the server which would otherwise become necessary. This is never done on a live environment.

build a stash

The stash is a storage area that can be reached by simply accessing "Jifty->handler->stash->{some_key}". The stash will start fresh with every request and lives for the entire lifetime of a request. Using the stash, transporting data between otherwise unconnected modules will become possible.

construct a request and response object

Using the CGI object, a Jifty::Request object is constructed and its data is populated with the CGI object's data. The request can be reached later using "Jifty->web->request". The request holds information about all actions involved, all page fragments, contains state variables and arguments (usually GET/POST parameters).

Also, an empty Jifty::Response object is constructed that contains one or more Jifty::Result objects, each of which holds one Jifty::Action's result. The response object can be retrieved with the "Jifty->web->response" method.

setup plugins

For every registered Jifty::Plugin, some kind of per-request initialization is performed allowing the actions provided by each plugin to run.

handle static content

If the requested URI points to some existing static content being housed in a "static" directory, this content is handled.

setup the session

Based on a cookie that is sent with every HTTP response, the current user is assigned a unique session. The session is stored in a Jifty::Web::Session object and can be accessed using the "Jifty->web->session" method.

return from a continuation if requested

If there is an open continuation on the stack (e.g. from a "Jifty->web->tangent" link) and the return has been requested (e.g. by a "Jifty->web->return" link), the return will execute at this stage.

handle dynamic request unless already served

First, the user is given a cookie containing the session-id. Then, the request is forwarded to "Jifty->handler->dispatcher", a Jifty::Dispatcher object to handle the request. The dispatcher works through the following steps:

cleanup several things

Finally, the eventually modified session-record is flushed and some internally allocated structures get deallocated.