title: Understanding the request lifecycle of a Play! application
body: <p>I am new to the Play! web framework, and in order to understand how it works, as well as how it compares with other web frameworks, I would like to be able to trace, in the Play! source code, the request lifecycle from start to finish. I will be using the Scala implementation of Play!.</p>
  
  <p>Because most of my experience has been with PHP frameworks, I am used to starting with an index.php file in a web root directory and reading down through any included config/bootstrapping scripts, dependency injection handling, request routing, action dispatching, and finally view/response rendering.</p>
  
  <p>I have not been able to identify a similar point of entry for a Scala/Play! application, and I would very much appreciate a push in the right direction. A walkthrough of the request lifecycle would of course be very generous, but all I really need is to be shown the entry point.</p>