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Javascript & NPM

Javascript & NPM#

Purpose#

We need to use npm build process for some client-side javascript components. This is needed to customize third-party libraries (bootstrap, …), as it is needed to work on source javascript file, and not with generated/transpiled resources.

This use-case may be addressed with:

  • third-party pure-javascript/npm repositories that provides npm packages we can embed in java application with webjars. This solution implies to create new repositories, manage their build/publish processes, and add steps for development environment setup;

  • adapt mvn build to include npm building phases. It allows to keep an unified development/build/publish process.

For the time being we use the second solution. First solution may be used for bigger javascript development, to ease third-party contribution or to share individual javascript components.

Architecture#

This description use bootstrap5-override as an example.

The purpose of bootstrap5-override is to package bootstrap resources into a webjar and to customize some resources.

Migrating from bootstrap 4 to bootstrap 5, it is prefered to switch from a process where we can override published resources to a model where we have to override bootstrap sources.

It allows us to prepare our customization base on es2015+ sources, so we can write simpler source code (module import, native class inheritance instead of prototype customization, …)

How to update Javascript resources in development environment#

Eclipse :

  • change source in src/main/js

  • trigger a clean on your module

  • resource(s) in src/main/generated-js must be updated, and dependants projects must reflect the change. Running tomcat must refresh the resource after a page reload

Project structure#

Main purpose of this setup is to process javascript sources to distribution-ready assets :

  • src/main/js/*.js : development files

  • src/main/generated-js/js : files generated from the development files

This setup also allows to bind other npm tools such as live server for demonstration or unit tests.

This setup is based on a NPM + rollup build workflow.

package.json#

  • scripts : alias allowing to execute several commands or other aliases at once

rollup.config#

  • input : input development file

  • output :

    • file: processed output file

    • format :

      • UMD (Universal Module Definition) : format managed on the browser side

      • ESM (ES Modules) : managed in node

    • generatedCode : standard to use -> how I should transform the JS

    • globals : specification of import aliases

  • external : external library available, avoid importing everything

  • plugins : the plugins to use

    • babel : allows to transpile code -> transform code from one language to another, in our case, only JS but in different versions

    • resolve : allows to find missing dependencies

Usage#

Example of use in igloo with bootstrap5-override.

To use the commands, go to igloo-parent/igloo/igloo-webjars/bootstrap5-override/. It becomes possible to use the commands seen in the package.json file.
To see the list of available commands, just run: npm run-script. We note that these are aliases that allow to call several commands or other aliases. The most commonly used are :

  • npm run-script js : generates files from development files -> transpiling, management of missing modules and code restructuring

  • npm run-script start : starts the hugo server

igloojs also includes unit testing configuration.

Maven integration#

See NPM & Maven.

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