Is excluding dependencies necessary for a modular Typescript project?

Question

Is excluding dependencies necessary for a modular Typescript project?

I am currently in the process of developing an NPM package for a Typescript project using gulp and browserify. The challenge I'm facing is that the consumer of the package does not utilize modules. Thus, I am working on creating a standalone bundle with Browserify.

One concern I have is whether bundling all the dependencies could pose an issue. It seems that the bundled js file simply encapsulates my dependencies (three and hammerjs) within the global namespace. The consumer also includes another component that uses hammerjs (similar version), leading me to wonder which version of hammerjs will be available for my application. How do other NPM packages that function in a standalone manner address this?

I attempted to exclude dependencies in Browserify by setting bundleExternal to false or removing them individually then including those libraries in the browser. However, this approach did not resolve the issue as I encountered a "Cannot find module 'hammerjs'" error in the console. I came across information on how to use the exclude feature in Browserify and successfully browserified all the dependencies separately. Despite this workaround, it seems equivalent to bundling them together directly since I cannot directly include the hammer.min.js file from their website.

TL;DR

What is the correct method for bundling a modular Typescript NPM package and handling dependencies for usage in a non-module-supported application?

typescript npm browserify

Answer 1

Answer №1

When creating a functional npm package, it is important to ensure that your module is located at the specified route in your package.json file as the main entry point. Typically, this would be within dist/my-main-class.js.

Within my project's src directory, I have a class/module/namespace that represents the core functionality:

class MyMainClass{
 static myMethod = function(){
    console.log('hello');
 }
}

To export this class/module, include the following line at the end of the file: export = MyMainClass;.

After publishing the package with the name MyMainClass using: $ npm publish MyMainClass, users can easily import it as shown below:

let MyMainClass = require('MyMainClass');
MyMainClass.myMethod();

Remember to build your project before publishing by including these scripts:

"build": "tsc -p .",
"prepublish": "npm run build",

If you wish to minify your code or perform other tasks, consider using gulp/webpack before publishing and targeting the dist folder.

"minify": "gulp/grunt/webpack minify dist/**.js",
"build": "tsc -p .",
"prepublish": "npm run build && npm run minify",

Answer 2

When creating a functional npm package, it is important to ensure that your module is located at the specified route in your package.json file as the main entry point. Typically, this would be within dist/my-main-class.js.

Within my project's src directory, I have a class/module/namespace that represents the core functionality:

class MyMainClass{
 static myMethod = function(){
    console.log('hello');
 }
}

To export this class/module, include the following line at the end of the file: export = MyMainClass;.

After publishing the package with the name MyMainClass using: $ npm publish MyMainClass, users can easily import it as shown below:

let MyMainClass = require('MyMainClass');
MyMainClass.myMethod();

Remember to build your project before publishing by including these scripts:

"build": "tsc -p .",
"prepublish": "npm run build",

If you wish to minify your code or perform other tasks, consider using gulp/webpack before publishing and targeting the dist folder.

"minify": "gulp/grunt/webpack minify dist/**.js",
"build": "tsc -p .",
"prepublish": "npm run build && npm run minify",

Answer 3

Answer №2

When it comes to handling dependencies, I found a solution that works for me. I decided to create two versions of my library - one with all dependencies included (mylib.js) and another without any dependencies (mylib.min.js). These are distributed in the npm package. Additionally, I provided the library in modular form for those who prefer using tools like browserify. While I initially encountered issues with browserify due to residual dependencies, switching to webpack resolved this issue seamlessly.

For reference, here is the complete structure of my project:

├───dist                
│   ├───mylib.d.ts      
│   ├───myLib.js        
│   └───myLib.min.js    
├───lib
│   ├───myLib.js        
│   └───myLib.d.ts      
├───src                 
├───tests               
└───testSrc             
    ├───test.html
    └───unittests

In my package.json file, you can find the details of my project setup including dependencies and build scripts.

The Gulpfile.js contains tasks for compiling, packing, pre-processing, copying libraries, and running tests. It automates these processes to streamline development.

The webpack.config.js file specifies the configuration for bundling the modular version of the library. By setting up externals, entry points, and output settings, webpack simplifies the process of packaging the code.

I have also manually created declaration files for TypeScript and included them for better typing support.

Finally, the test.html file references the necessary scripts for testing my library, demonstrating its usage in a practical scenario.

Answer 4

When it comes to handling dependencies, I found a solution that works for me. I decided to create two versions of my library - one with all dependencies included (mylib.js) and another without any dependencies (mylib.min.js). These are distributed in the npm package. Additionally, I provided the library in modular form for those who prefer using tools like browserify. While I initially encountered issues with browserify due to residual dependencies, switching to webpack resolved this issue seamlessly.

For reference, here is the complete structure of my project:

├───dist                
│   ├───mylib.d.ts      
│   ├───myLib.js        
│   └───myLib.min.js    
├───lib
│   ├───myLib.js        
│   └───myLib.d.ts      
├───src                 
├───tests               
└───testSrc             
    ├───test.html
    └───unittests

In my package.json file, you can find the details of my project setup including dependencies and build scripts.

The Gulpfile.js contains tasks for compiling, packing, pre-processing, copying libraries, and running tests. It automates these processes to streamline development.

The webpack.config.js file specifies the configuration for bundling the modular version of the library. By setting up externals, entry points, and output settings, webpack simplifies the process of packaging the code.

I have also manually created declaration files for TypeScript and included them for better typing support.

Finally, the test.html file references the necessary scripts for testing my library, demonstrating its usage in a practical scenario.

Is excluding dependencies necessary for a modular Typescript project?

TL;DR

Answer №1

Answer №2

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