I'm looking for a javascript library that attempts to provide the same simple utilities in both the browser environment AND nodejs (iteration, mapping, maybe control-flow) so that code can more easily be re-used across server and client. I know you can hack out parts of any JS library (YUI, jQuery, ...) and get them to work in both environments, I'm just wondering if it's already been done or standardized.
The closest I've seen is this: https://github.com/kof/sharedjs
But it's incomplete and has some odd stuff. I'm wondering if there is something more polished before I fork and hack.
The underscore library was built to add more functional programming to jquery, things like mapping, and also templating.
Because it doesn't rely on the DOM (it leaves that to jquery) it functions well in node.
The RightJS link library has a server build link that has node.js in mind.
From the download page:
RightJS is also available as a server-side library. In this case it contains only the native JavaScript unit extensions and the Class, Observer, Options units along with all the non-DOM utility functions from the Util module.
Our server-side build follows the CommonJS principles and is ready for use with the node.js framework.
Node's GitHub wiki has a list of CommonJS-compatible modules which will run in Node and browsers.
Some of the other modules on that page may also run in a browser environment. For example, the excellent DateJS works fine in Node. (It is available as a NPM.)
Btw, RightJS is also available on NPM
Related
When I download node.js from the internet through bash shell commands, am I merely downloading a "functions" folder that has many files in them, or am I downloading anything else besides that?
This question came from the shocking realization I got when I downloaded AngularJS framework and realized it was literally a one page document and nothing more.
Node.js contains a compiled executable that can load and run Javascript code.
This exposes quite a few built in functions that run compiled code within the executable, as well lots of other plain javascript in plain *.js files that make up the standard library.
But to run all that Node.js integrates the V8 javascript engine which is written in C++ and then compiled for your operating system.
When you download Angular, it is meant to run in a browser. That browser provides the execution environment. So all Anglular must provide is it's own code, which you can then leverage for your own projects. Javascript libraries really are just Javascript.
Think of Node.js more like your web browser. It's a program that can execute Javascript, as well as provides the basic functionality you need to write Javascript programs.
GraalVM has so many surprising capabilities. But one thing I haven't seen, but would like to, is to be able to run a GraalVM application in a browser. Sources like this (Top 10 Things To Do With GraalVM) shows interop with Node.js, but not running a compiled application in the browser.
Is this possible? If so, is there documentation on this? Thanks!
Well, it looks like this may be possible using Webassembly. From the Graal VM lead Thomas Wuerthinger: https://twitter.com/thomaswue/status/943592646915878912?lang=en
Webassembly is useful for statically typed languages (as LLVM
backend). I am not aware of any Ruby, R, or Python implementation
successfully targeting Webassembly. Graal VM will be able to run via
Webassembly in the browser. It also has a "native" mode with
standalone binaries.
So if you're coding in something like Clojure or Python and planning on compiling to Webassembly via Graal VM, you would likely run up against the same restrictions that Webassembly has, such as the browser sandbox and only being able to access web APIs. It will be interesting to see if those boundaries can be communicated through error messages or other compile-time checks.
It would be very interesting to see a browser that embeds GraalVM and can run its engine for languages, even if only for JavaScript initially.
Currently, there's no such browsers, as far as I know. Maybe an interesting first step would be to take Electronjs, and try replacing the version of node they use with the version of node.js from GraalVM. It's not trivial, since they introduce some changes to the stock node.js and GraalVM introduces some changes when replaces the JavaScript engine with its own implementation.
However, it definitely should be possible to achieve.
When developing front-end code for the browser, I often use the es2017 preset when transpiling down to a distribution bundle, which allows me all the conveniences of the included transformers. For conventional modules, I usually stick to whatever the required node engine I've specified for that particular module supports.
I would like to start developing these "conventional" modules using babel transformers as well, but I can foresee drawbacks to this, including:
It might inhibit the debugging workflow (more specifically when working with an IDE)
The performance of the module might suffer
What's the current state on this matter - would you say it makes sense to use babel in conventional modules given the aforementioned and other trade-offs? What are the pros/cons for your preferred workflow?
Bonus question: What are some reputable modules and/or module authors out there that are already using this technique? I've seen Facebook do it for their react ecosystem but I guess that makes sense since those are mostly modules for the browser.
It is converted back to vanilla JS (babel does that part).
What you get is that you can utilize Classes which I found useful.
Hopefully with time, browsers will support ES6 and we will not need babel.
The only drawback is that when debugging, you have to produce a source map, but that is temporary, see above.
To answer your second question: I'm using React in one of the websites, and most of the modules I needed (from npm) are using ES6.
I believe that the trade-offs or drawbacks that you mention both do not apply to developing nodejs code using babel as ES7 transpiler. Personally, I find using ES7 features with node tremendously productive.
There is source map support for debugging. I use karma for testing and it comes with excellent source map support (I use IntelliJ but I believe most IDEs will do). You can checkout this REST-API repository on github. It's a nice stack for building nodejs data backend. It uses karma for testing - even comes with code coverage support. It also integrates with pm2 for scaling and availability.
Regarding performance: I think transpiled code has been shown to run faster in many scenarios than the code a developer would write when not having advanced language features available. I will post some links later.
I'm a Node n00b starting a couple web app projects using Express, and I've got some common client-side libraries I'd like to share between the two projects. This seems like a very common problem, so there must be several solutions available already.
I come from a java background, and in java, I'd create a separate "common" project and "overlay" common WAR over my project during packaging. This would also allow for r.js optimization during the build process.
My best guess in Node is that I need to create a private NPM module, and map those common files into express via a use() middleware plugin. Is that right?
How, then, can I package both my common and project specific javascript into a minified file using r.js?
Or is source control the answer? Checking out my "common" repository inside each project?
Any help would be most appreciated. Thanks.
This seems like a very common problem, so there must be several solutions available already.
Good news: Yes, this is a common problem. Yes, there are several "solutions".
Bad News: All of the "solutions" are at least partially terrible.
Here's my advice:
1) Individual .js files should be coded as CommonJS modules
2) Groups of related .js files should be made into npm packages
3A) Use them in node via the regular node.js/CommonJS require function and use browserify to use them in the browser
3B) OR use a built tool like grunt to wrap commonjs into AMD format for use with requireJS in the browser
3C) OR consider something like component.io components
Standard NodeJS app utilising module.exports to make the code modular. We'd like to combine all of those files together into a single file a la RequireJS on the client side (which is what we use there). Does anyone know an easy way to do this server-side without wrapping everything in more module wrappers (e.g. RequireJS) e.g. command-line tool ?
Ta
N
If you want to use node.js modules on the client side without additional wrappers (like RequireJS), you'll want to look into using browserify:
https://github.com/substack/node-browserify
It's a very useful build tool that allows you to use node-style require() statements and native node.js modules on the client side. Or, to quote from the github page itself:
Make node-style require() work in the browser with a server-side build step, as if by magic!