Recursively compress directory of javascript files into a single file

Question

I would like be able to run a single command in my project folder to concatenate and compress all of my javascript files (perhaps with YUI Compressor) into a single output file.

If possible I would like to partially specify the order in which they are concatenated together but not have to keep track of every single javascript file. Perhaps a config file could be built which looks like this:

application.js
excanvas.js
json2.js
jquery*.js
flot/*
backbone*.js
app/screen-*.js
app/main.js
app/crud-*.js
app/*
*

Does anyone know of either an existing tool to do something like this, could whip together a bash/ruby/node/perl script, or even a better methodology? I'm building a Single Page App with heavy JS usage (~40 files) to be consumed by people with low bandwidth.

I would need the solution to be executable on my OS X development machine.

Answer 1

find . -iname "*.js" -exec cat "{}" \; > singlefile.js
[JS compressor] singlefile.js

First concatenate the files, then compress them.

If you really care, though, you may want a real JS optimizer like the RequireJS optimizer.

Answer 2

given a folder of javascript files:

geee: ~/src/bash/js-files
$ find . 
.
./application.js
./jquery-ui.js
./all-scripts.js
./cp.js
./excanvas.js
./backbone-worldwide.js
./jquery-plugin.js
./.found
./app
./app/crud-sel.js
./app/screen-detach.js
./app/aligator.js
./app/crud-in.js
./app/giraffe.js
./app/screen-attach.js
./app/main.js
./app/crud-del.js
./app/mouse.js
./app/monkey.js
./app/screen-shot.js
./backbone-national.js
./backbone23.js
./ummap.js
./CONFIG
./backbone-ibm.js
./ieee754.js
./flot
./flot/cow.js
./flot/moo.js
./flot/cat.js
./flot/bull.js
./flot/dog.js
./flot/sheep.js
./lines
./droiddraw-r1b21
./droiddraw-r1b21/._readme.txt
./droiddraw-r1b21/readme.js
./droiddraw-r1b21/LICENSE.js
./jquery-1.7.js
./ole.js
./touch
./json2.js
./xls2txt.js
./DO.sh
./backbone-isp.js

with a slightly modified configuration file:

geee: ~/src/bash/js-files
$ cat CONFIG 
application.js
excanvas.js
json2.js
jquery*.js
flot/*
backbone*.js
app/screen-*.js
app/main.js
app/crud-*.js
app/*js
*js

and this bash script:

$ cat DO.sh 
PROJECT=/home/jaroslav/src/bash/js-files        # top folder of the web-app 
SUPERJS=${PROJECT}/all-scripts.js
CONFIG=${PROJECT}/CONFIG                        # your the priority file (notice *js)
FOUND=${PROJECT}/.found                         # where to save results
JSMIN=$HOME/bin/jsmin                           # change to /usr/local/bin/jsmin or some other tool

echo > $FOUND                                   # remove results from previous run

if [ ! -x $JSMIN ]
then
        TMPJSMIN=/tmp/jsmin.c
        wget -q https://github.com/douglascrockford/JSMin/raw/master/jsmin.c -O $TMPJSMIN & FOR=$?
        echo "fetching jsmin (by Douglas Crockford) from github"
        wait $FOR 
        gcc -o $JSMIN $TMPJSMIN
fi




cat $CONFIG | \
        while read priority
        do 
                eval "find $priority|sort -n" | \
                        while read amatch;
                        do
                                grep -q $amatch $FOUND || echo $amatch >> $FOUND
                        done
        done
echo minifying: 
cat $FOUND
cat `cat $FOUND` | $JSMIN > $SUPERJS

you will find the "merged" script in all-scripts after runing the script:

geee: ~/src/bash/js-files
$ . DO.sh 
fetching jsmin (by Douglas Crockford) from github
[1]+  Done                    wget -q https://github.com/douglascrockford/JSMin/raw/master/jsmin.c -O $TMPJSMIN
minifying:

application.js
excanvas.js
json2.js
jquery-1.7.js
jquery-plugin.js
jquery-ui.js
flot/bull.js
flot/cat.js
flot/cow.js
flot/dog.js
flot/moo.js
flot/sheep.js
backbone23.js
backbone-ibm.js
backbone-isp.js
backbone-national.js
backbone-worldwide.js
app/screen-attach.js
app/screen-detach.js
app/screen-shot.js
app/main.js
app/crud-del.js
app/crud-in.js
app/crud-sel.js
app/aligator.js
app/giraffe.js
app/monkey.js
app/mouse.js
all-scripts.js
cp.js
ieee754.js
ole.js
ummap.js
xls2txt.js

---

Let me know if you need me to explain the script or if it fails on OS X.