Organizing a Javascript project for development and production with the help of npm and grunt

Question

Organizing a Javascript project for development and production with the help of npm and grunt

I have been working on structuring the JavaScript files in my project. I opted to use NPM for managing modules and Grunt for concatenating and compressing js and css files for deployment purposes.

Here is the current structure I am using:


-[project root]   
-- [node modules]: contains packages like requirejs, jquery, semantic-ui etc. installed via npm  

--[war]  
---[Dev]   
----[css]: multiple css files from the modules (Question 2:?)  
----[js]: multiple js files from the moduels (Question 2:?)

- Gruntfile.js: used for concatenation and compression    
---[Production] -   
----[css]: directory for compressed and concatenated css files  
----[js]: directory for compressed and concatenated js files

Question 1: Do you think the above approach to structuring the project is correct? Are there any other recommendations that would help with managing packages, dev, and production files more efficiently?

Question 2: Is there a way for NPM or another tool to automatically move js and css files from the [node modules] folder to the [dev >> css] or [dev >> js] folders? If I do this manually, how can I keep track of the versions? It seems like there might be a better solution out there that I am missing.

Any suggestions, recommendations, or comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

javascript css node.js gruntjs npm

Answer 1

Answer №1

The question may be too broad for the SO format, but in general, your approach is solid. Instead of directly copying files from node_modules, it's recommended to have your JavaScript files stored under a separate directory like js and then import or require them into your own files.

//foo.js
//Using ES6 style imports
import {Foo as Bar} from "biz";

//Common JS style requires
var Bar = require("biz");

//AMD style requires
require(["biz"], function (Bar) {

If you plan on using modules from node_modules in a browser environment, consider bundling them with tools like Browserify, Webpack, Rollup, or similar bundlers. For automation, utilize task runners such as grunt-browserify along with grunt-watch.

The same principle applies to CSS files: Store your stylesheets under css and if needed, import CSS files from node_modules into your own files. If using preprocessors like SASS or LESS, these will typically handle inlining imports during the build process. For plain CSS files, tools like grunt-css-import can help manage imports.

Answer 2

The question may be too broad for the SO format, but in general, your approach is solid. Instead of directly copying files from node_modules, it's recommended to have your JavaScript files stored under a separate directory like js and then import or require them into your own files.

//foo.js
//Using ES6 style imports
import {Foo as Bar} from "biz";

//Common JS style requires
var Bar = require("biz");

//AMD style requires
require(["biz"], function (Bar) {

If you plan on using modules from node_modules in a browser environment, consider bundling them with tools like Browserify, Webpack, Rollup, or similar bundlers. For automation, utilize task runners such as grunt-browserify along with grunt-watch.

The same principle applies to CSS files: Store your stylesheets under css and if needed, import CSS files from node_modules into your own files. If using preprocessors like SASS or LESS, these will typically handle inlining imports during the build process. For plain CSS files, tools like grunt-css-import can help manage imports.

Organizing a Javascript project for development and production with the help of npm and grunt

Answer №1

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