tips for migrating a javascript app to using AMD (eg requirejs)

Question

I have a javascript project were most modules are using some third party libs as 'global' dependencies (in particular jquery and jquery plugins)

I would like to "clean" the project (to express all libraries as requirejs dependencies.), however this is in my case a large task (lots of files, lots of third-party libs).

How could I make the migration easier / quicker ?

• Can I "fake" using amd dependencies by wrapping the third-party libs in modules that just load them (with the order! plugin ?)
• Is it safe to mix modules that load third-party libs as modulesand modules that directly use the global ?
• If I wanted to automate things, are there any tools could I use to 'parse' a requirejs module to tell me if a particular symbol is used ?

Edit : What I mean by my last question is "Would it be possible to automatically rewrite my js files so that hey explicitely import dependencies instead of relying on browser globals ?"

Answer 1

Can I "fake" using amd dependencies by wrapping the third-party libs in modules that just load them

Yes you can, RequireJS has a shim config that is designed just for that.

Take a look at this article it will help you organize your JavaScript code with RequireJS http://www.stefanprodan.eu/2012/09/intro-requirejs-for-asp-net-mvc/