A Javascript module loader

by Henrique Filho @ Avenue Code
hfilho@avenuecode.com

Jan 14th, 2014

AGENDA

Prerequisites
The Web Today
CommonJS
AMD
RequireJS
Question
Differences between Define and Require

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

AGENDA

How to Struct a project with RequireJS

BaseURL and Paths
Maps
Shims
Config
Structure example

Conclusion
Learn More
Assignment - Building a Require JS structure

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

PRerequisites

Javascript intermediate/advanced

The Web Today

Immediately executed factory function

(function () {
    var $ = this.jQuery;

    this.myExample = function () {};
}());

The dependencies are very weakly stated:
- The developer needs to know the right dependency order
- Not scalable
- Can generate cyclic definitions

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

Common JS

Common JS: Javascript not just for browsers anymore

Javascript Standard Library

Develop using Common JS API's and then run the application across different JavaScript interpreters and host environments
Standards Examples: Binary, Console, I/O, Encoding, Modules, Packages, Unit Testing etc

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

COMMON JS

What can we do?

Server-side JavaScript applications (node.js)
Command line tools (for Browsers)
Desktop GUI-based applications (Wakanda)
Hybrid applications (Titanium, Adobe AIR)

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

Common JS

Advantages on Require JS?

Specify a way to load dependencies
Asynchronous definitions
Modules transportation
Scalable project: Solve complexity of huge web sites

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

AMD

AMD: Asynchronous Module Definition
Modules and its dependencies can be asynchronous loaded
Problems to Solve:
- Performance
- Usability
- Debugging
- Cross-Domain access

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

AMD

 define(id?, dependencies?, factory);

Usage

// Calling define with module ID, dependency array and factory function
define('myModule', ['dep1', 'dep2'], function (dep1, dep2) {

    // Define the module value by returning a value.
    return function () {};
});

You should avoid naming modules yourself, and only place one module in a file while developing.
For tooling and performance, a module solution needs a way to identify modules in built resources.

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

AMD

AMD solves the issues by

Register the factory function by calling define()
Pass dependencies as an array of string values, do not grab globals
Only execute the factory function once all the dependencies have been loaded and executed
Pass the dependent modules as arguments to the factory function

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

Require JS

Require JS: JavaScript file and module loader
Uses AMD to structure your dependencies
Allow the developer to configure all libraries and their dependencies once and avoids cyclic dependencies
Improvements:

Speed (Less HTTP Requests)
Quality of your code
Structured project

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

Require JS

Project Structure using Require JS library

project-directory/

project.html

scripts/

main.js
require.js
helper/

util.js

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

Require JS

Different approach to script loading than traditional <script> tags

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    <head>
        <title>My Sample Project</title>
        <!-- data-main attribute tells require.js to load
             scripts/main.js after require.js loads. -->
        <script data-main="scripts/main" src="scripts/require.js"></script>
    </head>
    <body>
        <h1>My Sample Project</h1>
    </body>
</html>

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

REQUIRE JS

Inside of main.js

You can use require() to load any other scripts you need to run.
This ensures a single entry point, since the data-main script you specify is loaded asynchronously.

require(["helper/util"], function(util) {
  // This function is called when scripts/helper/util.js is loaded.
  // If util.js calls define(), then this function is not fired until
  // util's dependencies have loaded, and the util argument will hold
  // the module value for "helper/util"
});

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

REquire JS

AMD and RequireJS : Simplified CommonJS wrapper

define(function(require, exports, module) {
        var a = require('a'),
            b = require('b');

        // Return the module value
        return function () {};
    }
);

Direct alignment of dependency name to the local variable used for that dependency
Uses Function.prototype.toString() function to get the string value of the contents

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

Question

What is the loading type on Require JS?

Eager loading: you do everything when asked. Multiply two matrices. You do all the calculations.
Over-eager loading: you try to anticipate what the user will ask for and preload it
Lazy loading: you only do a calculation when required. Don't do any calculations until you access an element of the result matrix

It uses LAZY LOADING to manage dependencies!

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

Differences Between Require and Define

define() is to create modules such as AMD

Well-scoped object that avoids polluting the global namespace
Only one module per file (name-to-file-path lookup algorithm)
Any return value

require() is to use in call hierarchy of JS files

Reuse of defined modules

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

How to Struct a Project with Require JS

Usually, you specify a module and call with require

What if you can't change the library lines (JQuery, Foundation)?
What if you want to concentrate all dependencies without calling them on <script> tag?
What if you want change the location of your JS files and organize your dependencies?

USE A CONFIGURATION FILE

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

BASEURL and Paths

baseURL: The root path to use for all module lookups

If you don't specify, will attend the HTML current location

Paths: Path mappings for module names not found directly under baseUrl

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

BaseURL and PATHS

Example

requirejs.config({
    baseUrl: 'js/lib',

    // If the module ID starts with "app",
    // load it from the js/app directory. 
    // Paths are relative to the baseUrl, 
    // and never includes a ".js" extension since
    // the paths config could be for a directory.
    paths: {
        app: '../app'
    }
});
requirejs(['jquery', 'canvas', 'app/sub'],
function ($, canvas, sub) {
    // Use either Jquery or Canvas libraries
});

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

MAPS

Maps: Instead of loading the module with the given ID, substitute a different module ID

Larger projects that needs to use two different versions of the script

requirejs.config({
    map: {
        '*': {
            'foo': 'foo1.2'
        },
        'some/oldmodule': {
            'foo': 'foo1.0'
        }
    }
})

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

ShIMS

SHIM: Configure the dependencies, exports, and custom initialization for older and traditional "browser globals" scripts

Scripts that do not use define() to declare the dependencies and set a module value

requirejs.config({
    shim: {
        'jquery.colorize': {
            deps: ['jquery'],
            exports: 'jQuery.fn.colorize'
        }
    }
});

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

CONFIG

Config: Pass down the configuration to a module

requirejs.config({
    config: {
        'bar': {
            size: 'large'
        },
        'baz': {
            color: 'blue'
        }
    }
});

define(function (require, exports, module) {
    // Will be the value 'large'
    var size = module.config().size;
});

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

Structure EXAMPLE

require.config( {
    baseUrl: "/script",
    map: {
        '*': {
            'jquery': 'jquery-private'
        },
        'jquery-private': {
            'jquery': 'jquery'
        }
    },
    paths: paths,
    shim: shim
} );

You can create variables to be used on require.config function

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

Conclusion

Common JS is a strong comunity that provides JS standards and are growing every day
AMD is one of the standards used on Require JS to load dependencies asynchronous
Require JS helps struct, config and improve performance of your app
We must develop JS code based on good standards, improving performance and structure on the code
Structured JS is the present and future

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

Learn more

CommonJS wiki - http://wiki.commonjs.org/wiki/CommonJS
AMD wiki - https://github.com/amdjs/amdjs-api/wiki/AMD
Require JS Official website - requirejs.org

Advanced Usage: http://requirejs.org/docs/faq-advanced.html

Egghead example - https://egghead.io/lessons/requirejs-introduction-to-requirejs

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

Assignment

Get your multiple-choice quiz developed on Backbone and create the Require JS fundamentals, considering:

You should have at least 5 libraries
At least two SHIM cases
You must map the libraries
Create paths as well
Use at least one optimization criteria based on the optimizer page at requirejs.org (Optional Task)
Explain the optimization with comments
Send me the solution in a GitHub repo

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A javascript module loader with Require.js

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