Hi all,
as I already mentioned in my last mail [1], one of the main aspects of
the Saros HTML/JS GUI is "to establish a solid groundwork to build,
maintain, extend and test the Saros HTML GUI". Therefore, some tools for
automation are inevitable, for example to ease development and
maintenance via automating dependecy management, unit testing, obtaining
code quality etc.
Apart from that, without a proper JS build chain we would quickly end up
in a morass of hard to maintain and hard to modify javascript.
In JavaScript one tool to manage tasks and provide a build process is
Gulp [2], which I plan to integrate in the development workflow of the
HTML/JS GUI. Gulp requires NodeJS and NPM (Node Package Manager), which
leads to some overhead for the development environment setup, depending
on your OS.
Assuming the following (simplified) project structure:
index.html
js/
account.js
contact.js
somehting.js
main.js
...
external/
jquery.js
some-lib.js
...
build/
build.js
When a developer changes internal code in the `js` folder and/or
adds/removes an external library, the developer has to run `gulp` (see
it as build tool for JavaScript and assume its installed locally).
`gulp` (beside other things like running unit tests) will produce
`build/build.js` which contains all necessarry JS code for the
application, its the only JS file embedded in index.html.
The problem now is something like: where/how to run gulp? There are
various possibilities:
#1: Java and JS build processes are separated
---------------------------------------------
If you change something in the JS part, you are responsible for building
the artefact `build/build.js` yourself before committing (and commit it),
in addition to build the Saros Java part (remember: since there are more
tasks involved in the build process, unit testing for example, you should
do that anyway!).
+ only developers who care about the HTML/JavaScript part
(developers who actually work on that part) must provide the environment
for the JavaScript build.
- More complicated for new developers since process has to be understood.
- A lot of overhead when you only want to make a small change.
#2: JS build process is integrated in Java build process
--------------------------------------------------------
`gulp`will run automatically when running the Java application.
+ easy to use for the developers, the JavaScript build process is "hidden"
in the general Saros build process.
- Every Saros developer must provide the environment for the JavaScript build
process (NodeJS and npm). Even Saros developers which may never
touch the JavaScript part would hav to provide the environment.
- The Saros build project gets more complicated.
#3: A separate project for the JS part
--------------------------------------
The JavaScript (and HTML, CSS) part is an own project and is utilised by
the Saros Java part as a "library" (The Java part only see the artefact
`build.js` and some HTML, CSS). Its more or less like #1, but it leads
to a more explicit separation of the code and the correpsonding
development process.
+ Only developers who care about the HTML/JavaScript part must provide
the environment for the JavaScript build.
+ Developers are forced to test the JavaScript part standalone,
maybe leads to a cleaner interface and development.
- More complicated for new developers since process has to be understood.
- A lot of overhead when you only want to make a small change.
#4 Some other method I did not think of, tell me!
What would you prefer and why? Do you have suggestions, objections,...?
Best,
Basti
[1] http://sourceforge.net/p/dpp/mailman/message/33953514/
[2] https://github.com/gulpjs/gulp/blob/master/docs/getting-started.md
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