Develop Reference

Standard or best way to structure a GitHub repo for a CommonJS module for use on the front-end with or without build tools or other libraries?

I'm in the process of refactoring a couple of front-end JS snippets I regularly reuse as CommonJS modules. For my own purposes I'll use them with webpack or browserify and so a single JS file that looks like the following would suffice:
var Dependency = require('dependency');
function MyModule() {
// blah blah blah
}
module.exports = MyModule;
As long as I've got a package.json in the repo with the required dependencies I'll be able to include this module in future projects via npm/yarn webpack/browserify or whatever my toolset is on that given day.
But what if I want the module to be available as a standalone that can be added via a <script> tag?
Should I have 'dist' and 'src' directories in the repo, with the 'dist' directory containing the module code above, alongside an app.js that just says window.MyModule = require('./mymodule.js'); and the 'dist' directory containing the webpacked output for use with a script tag?
Should my bundled dist file contain the source of the dependencies or should I note in the readme, that the <script> tag for my module should be preceded by <script> tags for it's dependencies?
Instead of a 'dist' directory, should I have an (other) mymodule.js in the repo root alongside an index.html that includes it via a <script> tag and demos it's features?
Perhaps I'm over thinking this but I've encountered a number of different strategies in other people's repos, and I'm just wondering if there's any sort of consensus or best practice around this.

How to use same config file for serving modules with requirejs and using r.js on the server side to concatenate and minify?

I am working on a project that uses requirejs to dynamically load modules from a web browser. Some of the modules are vendor files, e.g. jQuery, which are all installed into a folder /project/root/lib/ via bower. This project's modules are located in a folder /project/root/components/. So I have a requirejs config, components/main.js, that looks something like this:
requirejs.config({
baseUrl: '/components',
paths: {
jquery: '/lib/jquery/jquery',
}
});
This way, when a vendor module is requested, require finds it by using the mappings defined in paths, while all other modules are located relative to components.
I also want to use r.js to perform concatenation and minification and reduce all javascript files to simply app.js for use in production. I was able to successfully perform this task with r.js -o build.js. Here is what build.js looks like:
({
baseUrl:'components',
out: 'js/app.js',
name: 'app',
paths: {
jquery: '../lib/jquery/jquery'
}
})
However, because there are dozens of vendor file paths defined in my require.js config (main.js), I don't want to have to replicate the configuration across two different files. I would rather use a single config file. The problem is that the paths defined in main.js are absolute (/lib/..., /components), because they're URL paths, but the paths in build.js need to be relative (../lib/..., ./components), because they're filesystem paths. Is there a way to reconcile these differences and define the paths only in main.js, which I then I load in using mainConfigFile in build.js? I tried using the require config called map in build.js, but this method required that I defined a new mapping for each module, which is just as bad as re-defining all of the paths. I want a blanket mapping, essentially.
Is there a method to consolidate my config files to avoid duplicate path definitions?

There is nothing that requires using absolute paths in the configuration passed to RequireJS. RequireJS interprets paths that are relative using baseUrl as the starting point so this should work:
requirejs.config({
baseUrl: '/components',
paths: {
jquery: '../lib/jquery/jquery',
}
});
RequireJS will perform the final path computation for jquery by merging /components with ../lib/jquery/jquery, which resolves to /lib/jquery/jquery, which is exactly the same as the absolute path that was there originally.

Using one RequireJS project within another RequireJS project

I have a RequireJS project I am working on with the following structure:
Project/
index.html
src/
main.js
projectcomponent.js
lib/
require.js
main.js is the entry point of the Require application and has the following require.config inside it:
require.config
baseUrl: "./"
main.js returns an object.
I want to use this entire project as a module inside another RequireJS project. I attempted to use r.js (the RequireJS optimisation tool) to reduce the project to a single file, which worked - but as it relied on RequireJS, its config conflicted with the config of the parent project I wanted to use this project as a module for.
How can I use one RequireJS project as a module inside another RequireJS project?

You can get round this by using almond (https://github.com/jrburke/almond) to replace the require.js dependency, making the first project a fully encapsulated single file.
There's some further explanation and relevant links on the RequireJS site: http://requirejs.org/docs/faq-optimization.html#wrap

Require.js Optimizer for a SPA with Backbone

I've built a big Backbone app (lot of views, models, collections) and used require.js for module loading. Everything works as expected and smoothly.
Now I'd like to ship to the net this app, but I'd like to optimize network requests, by compacting everything on a (single?) file. I've read about Require.JS Optimizer, installed node.js and created a build file.
These are my tests:
create a build file WITHOUT specifying a single module in modules section --> I obtain a copy of the source app, with all the js files uglyfied. Application works, but nothing seems changed from the network requests point of view.
create a build file WITH a single module (i.e. my main.js file) --> I obtain a copy of the source app, with all the js files uglyfied and one huge new main.js file that I suppose it includes all its dependencies (i.e. all the used files). That would solve the network requests problem, but the app doesn't start at all, starting to give me strange errors.
Which is the correct way to use Require.JS optimizer? I suppose #2, but what's your opinion? If that is the correct way, I should find out how to solve those errors...
Thanks
EDITS
This is my app folder structure:
app
|
--- scripts
|
--- libs
--- collections
--- views
--- models
--- main.js
--- styles
--- templates
--- index.htm
At the same level of "app" folder I created a build folder containing r.js and build.js, whose content is this:
({
//Directory relativa a questo file dove si trova l'app
appDir: '../app',
//Directory relativa ad appDir di dove si trovano i moduli
baseUrl: 'scripts',
//Percorso verso il file main
mainConfigFile: '../app/scripts/main.js',
paths:
{
jquery: 'libs/jquery/jquery-min',
jqueryui: 'libs/jqueryui/jquery-ui-1.10.2.min',
underscore: 'libs/underscore/underscore-min',
backbone: 'libs/backbone/backbone-min',
kendo: 'libs/kendo/kendo.web.min',
kendo_it: 'libs/kendo/amd/kendo.culture.it.min',
relational: 'libs/relational/backbone-relational',
nested: 'libs/nested/backbone-nested-v1.1.2.min',
rivets: 'libs/rivets/rivets.min',
i18n: 'libs/i18next/i18next.amd.withJQuery-1.6.3',
jvalid: 'libs/jqueryvalidate/jquery.validate.min',
chartjs: 'libs/chartjs/chart.min',
toastr: 'libs/toastr/toastr.min',
templates: '../templates'
},
//Where to save the output
dir: '../app-build',
modules:
[
{
name: 'main'
}
]
})
I launch the building process using this command:
node r.js -o build.js
And if I run the "compiled" main.js, I got this error back:
Uncaught Error: Mismatched anonymous define() module
Any ideas?

Depending on requirement of your application you can choose to
Concatenate all files into single file
Concatenate module-wise
Having every thing concatenated to single file works well for small applications but it will not scale to larger applications. requirejs has detailed documentation for this. If every thing is right, whatever method you adopt, that should not throw an error. Please provide more info about the error you are getting, that might help people answer your question properly.

How to use RequireJS build profile + r.js in a multi-page project

I am currently learning RequireJS fundamentals and have some questions regarding a build profile, main files, and use of RequireJS with multi-page projects.
My project's directory structure is as follows:
httpdocs_siteroot/
app/
php files...
media/
css/
css files...
js/
libs/
jquery.js
require.js
mustache.js
mains/
main.page1.js
main.page2.js
main.page3.js
plugins/
jquery.plugin1.js
jquery.plugin2.js
jquery.plugin3.js
utils/
util1.js
util2.js
images/
Since this project is not a single-page app, I have a separate main file for each page (although some pages use the same main file).
My questions are:
Is RequireJS even practical for projects that are not single-page?
Without using the optimizer, each of my main files start with essentially the same config options:
requirejs.config({
paths: {
'jquery': 'http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.7.2/jquery.min'
},
baseUrl: '/media/js/',
// etc...
});
require(['deps'], function() { /* main code */ });
Is there a way to avoid this? Like having each main file include the same build profile without having to actually build it?
Should r.js go in httpdocs_siteroot's parent directory?
Is there something glaringly wrong with my app dir structure or my use of RequireJS?

First of all, this is not a question with a unique solution. I'll explain the way I use RequireJS that works for me, and may work for you :)
Second, English is not my mother language. Corrections and tips about the language will be very appreciated. Feel free, guys :)
1) Is require js even practical for projects that are not single-page?
It depends. If your project does not have shared code between pages for example, RequireJS help will be modest. The main idea of RequireJS is modularize the application into chunks of reusable code. If your application uses only page-specific code, then using RequireJS may not be a good idea.
2) Without using the optimizer, each of my main files start with essentially the same config options. Is there a way to avoid this? Like having each main file include the same build profile without having to actually build it?
The only way I see is making the configuration on the main file, or create a module that will configure RequireJS and then use that module as the first dependency on main.js. But this can be tricky. I do not use many main.js files in my applications; I use only one that acts as a loader (see below).
3) Should r.js go in httpdocs_siteroot's parent directory?
Not necessarily. You can put it inside the /media directory, since all your client stuff is there.
4) Is there something glaringly wrong with my app dir structure or my use of requirejs?
I would not say that. On the other hand, the structure is perhaps a bit too fragmented. For example, you can put all '3rd party stuff' inside a /vendor directory. But this is just sugar; your structure will work well and seems right. I think the major problem is the requirejs.config() call in multiple main files.
I had the same problems you are having now and I ended up with the following solution:
1) Do not wrap the non-AMD-compliant files with a define. Although it works, you can achieve the same results using the "shim" property in requirejs.config (see below).
2) In a multi-page application, the solution for me is not to require the page-specific modules from the optimized main.js file. Instead, I require all the shared code (3rd party and my own) from the main file, leaving the page-specific code to load on each page. The main file ends up only being a loader that starts the page-specific code after loading all shared/lib files.
This is the boilerplate I use to build a multi-page application with requirejs
Directory structure:
/src - I put all the client stuff inside a src directory, so I can run the optimizer inside this directory (this is your media directory).
/src/vendor - Here I place all 3rd party files and plugins, including require.js.
/src/lib - Here I place all my own code that is shared by the entire application or by some pages. In other words, modules that are not page-specific.
/src/page-module-xx - And then, I create one directory for each page that I have. This is not a strict rule.
/src/main.js: This is the only main file for the entire application. It will:
configure RequireJS, including shims
load shared libraries/modules
load the page-specific main module
This is an example of a requirejs.config call:
requirejs.config({
baseUrl: ".",
paths: {
// libraries path
"json": "vendor/json2",
"jquery": "vendor/jquery",
"somejqueryplugion": "vendor/jquery.somejqueryplufin",
"hogan": "vendor/hogan",
// require plugins
"templ": "vendor/require.hogan",
"text": "vendor/require.text"
},
// The shim section allows you to specify
// dependencies between non AMD compliant files.
// For example, "somejqueryplugin" must be loaded after "jquery".
// The 'exports' attribute tells RequireJS what global variable
// it must assign as the module value for each shim.
// For example: By using the configutation below for jquery,
// when you request the "jquery" module, RequireJS will
// give the value of global "$" (this value will be cached, so it is
// ok to modify/delete the global '$' after all plugins are loaded.
shim: {
"jquery": { exports: "$" },
"util": { exports: "_" },
"json": { exports: "JSON" },
"somejqueryplugin": { exports: "$", deps: ["jquery"] }
}
});
And then, after configuration we can make the first require() request
for all those libraries and after that do the request for our "page main" module.
//libs
require([
"templ", //require plugins
"text",
"json", //3rd libraries
"jquery",
"hogan",
"lib/util" // app lib modules
],
function () {
var $ = require("jquery"),
// the start module is defined on the same script tag of data-main.
// example: <script data-main="main.js" data-start="pagemodule/main" src="vendor/require.js"/>
startModuleName = $("script[data-main][data-start]").attr("data-start");
if (startModuleName) {
require([startModuleName], function (startModule) {
$(function(){
var fn = $.isFunction(startModule) ? startModule : startModule.init;
if (fn) { fn(); }
});
});
}
});
As you can see in the body of the require() above, we're expecting another attribute on the require.js script tag. The data-start attribute will hold the name of the module for the current page.
Thus, on the HTML page we must add this extra attribute:
<script data-main="main" data-start="pagemodule/main" src="vendor/require.js"></script>
By doing this, we will end up with an optimized main.js that contains all the files in "/vendor" and "/lib" directories (the shared resources), but not the page-specific scripts/modules, as they are not hard-coded in the main.js as dependencies. The page-specific modules will be loaded separately on each page of the application.
The "page main" module should return a function() that will be executed by the "app main" above.
define(function(require, exports, module) {
var util = require("lib/util");
return function() {
console.log("initializing page xyz module");
};
});
EDIT
Here is example of how you can use build profile to optimize the page-specific modules that have more than one file.
For example, let's say we have the following page module:
/page1/main.js
/page1/dep1.js
/page1/dep2.js
If we do not optimize this module, then the browser will make 3 requests, one for each script.
We can avoid this by instructing r.js to create a package and include these 3 files.
On the "modules" attribute of the build profile:
...
"modules": [
{
name: "main" // this is our main file
},
{
// create a module for page1/main and include in it
// all its dependencies (dep1, dep2...)
name: "page1/main",
// excluding any dependency that is already included on main module
// i.e. all our shared stuff, like jquery and plugins should not
// be included in this module again.
exclude: ["main"]
}
]
By doing this, we create another per-page main file with all its dependencies. But, since we already have a main file that will load all our shared stuff, we don't need to include them again in page1/main module.
The config is a little verbose since you have to do this for each page module where you have more than one script file.
I uploaded the code of the boilerplate in GitHub: https://github.com/mdezem/MultiPageAppBoilerplate.
It is a working boilerplate, just install node and r.js module for node and execute build.cmd (inside the /build directory, otherwise it will fail because it uses relative paths)
I hope I have been clear. Let me know if something sounds strange ;)
Regards!

<script data-main="js/main" src="js/lib/require.js"></script>
// file: js/main
require(['./global.config'], function(){
require(['./view/home'], function() {
// do something
});
});
This is what I used in my project.