Bunt - a minimalist bundling method for client-side JavaScript
This is a pre-alpha project for bringing some peace, sanity and pragmatism to client-side JavaScript. It's right in the same playing field as projects like component, grunt, yeoman, bower, browserify, etc.
After observing the development of these tools and listened to the colorful and ongoing debate, I've come to believe in the following principles:
- Reproducability - a module that can be built and used at one point in time must never be broken or has its behavior changed because its dependencies change.
- Encapsulating nested dependencies. Multiple versions of the same dependency - even if not desired - must be able to co-exist in a single bundle. This is the only way of solving certain dependency problems.
- Minimal restrictions Allow for all kinds of compile-to-JS languages, pre-processed CSS, etc. For each requirement that is enforced by a bundling system, a certain part of the developer community is excluded. This is undesirable.
- Minimal external surface Similarly to 3., using the bundled components must impose very little on the user and his/her site. It should be as simple as including one JavaScript file and a stylesheet.
To create a system that conforms to these principles, one needs
- a package manager
- a tool that bundles JavaScript
- something that ties 1. and 2. together
As I believe in inventing as little as possible, Bunt solves only 3. and uses npm for package management and browserify for bundling.
Todo
- Flesh out this document in more detail