Undefine

Universal Module Loader, for node.js, browser scripts, bundles, and AMD define loaders

< 1 kB minified gzip, does not reinvent the wheel, if you need a dynamic AMD script loader pick one, undefine cooperates.

1. Start module with ( this.undefine || require( 'undefine' )( module, require ) )()
2. Define module using named AMD signature ( 'fibonacci', [], function() {} )
3. Require anywhere

Stability: Stable, used by toubkal.

Features

• Allows dual dependencies definitions for the browser and node
• Shortest module biolerplate
• Comprehensive, trully works in all situations, unlike UMD which is broken
• Smallest footprint
• Compatible with AMD module loaders such as require.js and curl-amd
• Does not require a build process

Example

Fibonacci number calculator module

Define fibonacci.js

  ( this.undefine || require( 'undefine' )( module, require ) )()
  ( 'fibonacci', [], function() {
    return fibonacci;
    
    // Naive recursive implementation of a Fibonacci number calculator
    function fibonacci( n ) {
      if ( n < 0 ) return;
      
      if ( n < 2 ) return n;
      
      return fibonacci( n - 2 ) + fibonacci( n - 1 );
    }
  } )

Require fibonacci.js

In node.js

  var fibonacci = require( 'fibonacci' );

  var n = 10;

  console.log( 'fibonacci( ' + n + ' ) =', fibonacci( n ) );

In the browser

  <script src="undefine.js"></script>
  <script src="fibonacci.js"></script>
  <script>
    require( [ 'fibonacci' ], function( fibonacci ) {
      var n = 10;
      
      console.log( 'fibonacci( ' + n + ' ) =', fibonacci( n ) );
    }
  </script>

With require.js

fibonacci.js loaded dynamically:

  <script src="require.js"></script>
  <script src="undefine.js"></script>
  <script>
    require( [ './fibonacci' ], function( fibonacci ) {
      var n = 10;
      
      console.log( 'fibonacci( ' + n + ' ) =', fibonacci( n ) );
    } )
  </script>

Also works with curl-amd.

How does it work?

In first line of module:

  ( this.undefine || require( 'undefine' )( module, require ) )()

1. this.undefine returns the function window.undefine( options ) in the browser, undefined in Node
2. In Node require( 'undefine' )( module, require ) returns a function undefine( options ) bound to Node module and require
3. In both Node and the browser undefine( options ) is evaluated and returns a define() function with the same signature as AMD define

The module definition is then equivalent to:

  define( 'fibonacci', [], function() {
    // fibonacci implementation here
  } )

Module ids must be set to the filename without the js extension, allowing to require modules loaded using script tags. To override global module names registered in the window Object, use the global option described bellow.

undefine( options )

The optional Object parameter options can have the following attributes which all default to false and are browser-only options at this time:

• global: register into the global window Object e.g. window[ 'fibonacci' ]. If global is a string, register into window using this string.
• no_conflict: if global is truly, add no_conflict() to module.

Additional options when used in conjunction with an AMD loader:

• annonymous: register annonymously.
• amd_id: register under this id instead of filename.

Example usage to declare the fibonacci module as window.fib with no_conflict():

  ( this.undefine || require( 'undefine' )( module, require ) )
  ( { global: 'fib', no_conflict: true } )
  ( 'fibonacci', [], function() {
    // fibonacci implementation here
  } )

Dependencies specification

As an extension to AMD dependencies specification, a dependency may be specified with an Array of two strings where the first string is the exported name in the browser and the second string is a Nodejs module name.

Example: the following loggable module has two dependencies, the first is ./extend.js, while the second is uuid which is available either in the window global uuid or as Node.js module node-uuid:

  ( this.undefine || require( 'undefine' )( module, require ) )()
  ( 'loggable', [ './extend', [ 'uuid', 'node-uuid' ] ], function( extend, uuid ) {
    // loggable implementation here
  } )

Also, if a module is not available on the browser or in node, one can specify a non-string value, typically falsy, where the module is not available.

Example: Node module css-select emulates CSS3 querySelector() method. To use this module one can apply the following definition for dependencies:

  ( this.undefine || require( 'undefine' )( module, require ) )()
  ( 'query_selector', [ [ 0, 'css-select' ] ], function( css_select ) {
    var selector = '#comments';
    
    return css_select
      ? css_select.selectOne( selector, [] /* should be an htmlparse2 document or element */ )
      : document.querySelector( selector )
    ;
  } )

Licence

The MIT License (MIT)

Copyright (c) 2015, Reactive Sets

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.