require cdn libraries in browserify without bundling it in the final js file

Question

If I have a library that is being pulled down from cdn and wouldn't like it to be part of the final js file but be able to require it using browserify, how would I solve it?

Here is how I currently solve it using alias and a shim file.

browserify: {     options: {         debug: true,         transform: [ 'reactify' ],         alias: [             'client/shims/jquery.js:jquery'         ]     },     app: {         src:  'client/app.js',         dest: 'public/app.js'     } } 

here is the shim file client/shims/jquery.js which I alias to jquery so I can use require('jquery') instead of the full path.

module.exports = $; 

Is there a shortcut in grunt-browserify to support this scenario? I would like to know if it is possible to define it in Gruntfile.js without creating the shim file.

Adding external: [ 'jquery' ] seems to totally ignore it and doesn't work.

Answer 1

With browserify-shim you can add this in your package.json file:

  "browserify": {     "transform": [       "browserify-shim"     ]   },    "browserify-shim": {     "jquery": "global:$"   } 

Then jquery will be available in your modules via require('jquery')