Ecosyste.ms: Awesome

An open API service indexing awesome lists of open source software.

Awesome Lists | Featured Topics | Projects

https://github.com/caolan/jam

JavaScript package manager - using a browser-focused and RequireJS compatible repository
https://github.com/caolan/jam

Last synced: about 2 months ago
JSON representation

JavaScript package manager - using a browser-focused and RequireJS compatible repository

Awesome Lists containing this project

README 

        
****NOTE: this project is no longer active and not recommended for use. It is left here for reference. ****



Jam was created at a time before Bower and provided a (still to this day) very nice installation workflow which meant you could 'jam install jquery', then immediately 'require("jquery")' in your application. No manual bundling or build step (e.g. browserify, webpack) required. This was thanks in large part to the power and flexibility of the [AMD format](http://requirejs.org/docs/whyamd.html).



Since it's creation, NPM has set it's sights more firmly on the browser space, and the popularity of the AMD module format is waning. Jam never really got enough traction to compete. Thanks to everone that helped out and gave it a try.



If you want to try hosting your own Jam repository, see the [repositories](#repositories) section below. The public Jam repository is now retired.



---



# Jam



For **front-end** developers who crave maintainable assets,

**Jam** is a **package manager** for JavaScript.

Unlike other repositories, we put the **browser** first.



* **Manage dependencies** - Using a stack of script tags isn't the most maintainable way of managing dependencies, with Jam packages and loaders like RequireJS you get automatic dependency resolution.



* **Fast and modular** - Achieve faster load times with asynchronous loading and the ability to optimize downloads. JavaScript modules and packages provide properly namespaced and more modular code.



* **Use with existing stack** - Jam manages only your front-end assets, the rest of your app can be written in your favourite language or framework. Node.js tools can use the repository directly with the Jam API.



* **Custom builds** - No more configuring custom builds of popular libraries. Now, every build can be optimized automatically depending on the parts you use, and additional components can always be loaded later.



* **Focus on size** - Installing multiple versions works great on the server, but client-side we don't want five versions of jQuery! Jam can use powerful dependency resolution to find a working set of packages using only a single version of each.



* **100% browser** - Every package you see here will work in the browser and play nicely with module loaders like RequireJS. We're not hijacking an existing repository, we're creating a 100% browser-focused community!



[Visit the Jam website](http://jamjs.org)



## Example usage



    $ jam install jquery



```html



    require(['jquery'], function ($) {

        ...

    });



```



[Learn more...](http://jamjs.org)



## Browser packages in package.json



You can also define your browser dependencies in a project-level package.json

file. If you use Node.js, this format will already familiar to you, and the

Jam dependencies can live alongside your NPM dependencies. It's also possible

to define custom install paths and baseUrls, as well as hand in any requirejs

configuration here:



```javascript

{

    "name": "my-project",

    "version": "0.0.1",

    "description": "My example project",

    "jam": {

        "baseUrl": "public",

        "packageDir": "public/vendor",

        "dependencies": {

            "jquery": "1.7.x",

            "underscore": null

        },

        "config": {

          "paths": {

            "templates": "public/templates"

          }

        }

    }

}

```



## Installation



    # npm install -g jamjs



Requires [node.js](http://nodejs.org)



## Settings



You can customize Jam by creating a `.jamrc` file in your home directory.



### .jamrc



#### repositories



An array with Jam repositiories. Jam uses `http://jamjs.org/repository` by

default, but it's possible to create a local, e.g. corporate, repository.



```javascript

exports.repositories = [

    "http://mycorporation.com:5984/repository/",

    "http://jamjs.org/repository"

];

```



Repositories are in preference-order, so packages from repositories earlier

in the list will be preferred over packages in repositories later in the

list. However, when no package version is specified, the highest version

number will be installed (even if that's not from the earliest repository).



You can add custom search URLs to repositories too:



```javascript

exports.repositories = [

    {

        url: "http://mycorporation.com:5984/repository/",

        search: "http://db.com:5984/_fti/key/_design/search/something"

    },

    "http://jamjs.org/repository"

];

```



If your local repository doesn't implement full text search (e.g. you don't want

to install couchdb lucene), you can disable searching functionality for that repository, otherwise

`jam search` would report an error:



```javascript

exports.repositories = [

    {

        url: "http://mycorporation.com:5984/repository/",

        search: false

    },

    "http://jamjs.org/repository"

];

```



See the section below on running your own repository.



### package\_dir



Sets the default package installation directory (normally uses `./jam`). This

is best customized in your project-level package.json file, to ensure other

developers also install to the correct location.



```javascript

exports.package_dir = 'libs';

```



## Running the tests



Jam includes two test suites, unit tests (in `test/unit`) and integration

tests (in `test/integration`). The unit tests are easy to run by running the

`test/unit.sh` script, or `test\unit.bat` on Windows. The integration tests

first require you to set up a CouchDB instance to test against (you can get

a free account at [IrisCouch](http://www.iriscouch.com/) if you don't want to install

CouchDB). You then need to set the JAM\_TEST\_DB environment variable to

point to a CouchDB database URL for testing:



#### Linux

```

export JAM_TEST_DB=http://user:password@localhost:5984/jamtest

```



#### Windows

```

set JAM_TEST_DB=http://user:password@localhost:5984/jamtest

```



**Warning:** All data in the test database will be deleted!



You can then run the integration tests using `test/integration.sh` or

`test\integration.bat`. To run BOTH the unit and integration tests use

`test/all.sh` or `test\all.bat`.



## Running your own private repository or mirror

1.  Install couchdb



#### Mac OS X:



    1. Install [Homebrew](http://mxcl.github.com/homebrew/).

    2. 



```

brew install couchdb

```

    

#### Ubuntu:



```

apt-get install couchdb

```

2.  Configure your database



```

curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:5984/_replicate -d '{

    "source":"http://jamjs.org/repository",

    "target":"http://localhost:5984/repository",

    "continuous":true,

    "doc_ids":["_design/jam-packages"]

    }' -H "Content-Type: application/json"

```



#### To create a mirror:



```

curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:5984/_replicate -d '{

    "source":"http://jamjs.org/repository",

    "target":"repository",

    "continuous":true,

    "create_target":true

    }' -H "Content-Type: application/json"

```



#### To create an empty, private repository:



```

curl -X PUT http://127.0.0.1:5984/repository

```



3.  Edit your ```.jamrc``` file to use your new repository:



```

exports.repositories = [

    {

        url: "http://localhost:5984/repository",

        search: false

    },

    "http://jamjs.org/repository"

];

```



### Adding search



1.  [Install couchdb-lucene](https://github.com/rnewson/couchdb-lucene#build-and-run-couchdb-lucene)

2.  Restart couchdb.

3.  Edit your ```.jamrc``` file to allow searching on your repository:

    

```

exports.repositories = [

    {

        url: "http://localhost:5984/repository",

        search: "http://localhost:5984/_fti/local/repository/_design/jam-packages/packages/"

    },

    "http://jamjs.org/repository"

];

```



### Publishing packages to your private repository



```

jam publish --repository http://localhost:5984/repository

```



## More documentation



To learn how to create and publish packages etc, and for more info on using

packages, consult the [Jam documentation website](http://jamjs.org/docs).



## Links



* [Homepage](http://jamjs.org)

* [Packages](http://jamjs.org/packages/)

* [Docs](http://jamjs.org/doc)