node.js build script using commander and shelljs

build.js

var DIST_FOLDER = '../site/public';


// ----

// more references:
// https://gist.github.com/millermedeiros/2640928
// https://gist.github.com/millermedeiros/4724047

var _cli = require('commander'),
    _requirejs = require('requirejs'),
    _path = require('path'),
    _fs = require('fs'),
    _shell = require('shelljs');


// ---


_cli
    .command('js')
    .description('optimize JS files. combine into fewer files to improve load performance')
    .action(optimizeJS);

_cli
    .command('css')
    .description('compile Sass files into CSS')
    .action(compileSass);

_cli
    .command('deploy')
    .description('optimize JS, compile SASS, copy all assets to the "./site" folder')
    .action(deploy);


_cli.parse(process.argv);


// ----

function rjs(opts, cb){

    var defaultSettings = {
        logLevel: 1,
        // optimize: 'none',

        baseUrl: 'scripts',
        mainConfigFile : 'scripts/main.js',

        paths: {
            // TODO: load jquery from CDN
            'jquery': 'lib/jquery/jquery'
        }
    };

    for(var key in opts) {
        defaultSettings[key] = opts[key];
    }

    _requirejs.optimize(defaultSettings, cb);
}


function optimizeJS(cb){

    rjs({
        name: 'main',
        out: 'scripts/main.min.js',

        stubModules: [
            'text',
            'hbs'
        ],

        include: [
            // map is loaded dynamically to avoid loading gmaps before needed
            'widgets/map/Map',
            'widgets/map/HotelMarker',
            'widgets/map/LocationMarker',
            'widgets/hotelpicker/Marker',
            'booking/entry/LocationMarker',
            // TODO: sub-sections should probably be loaded dynamically
            'booking/entry/entry',
            'booking/confirm/confirm',
            'property/entry/entry',
            'property/city/city',
            'property/explore/explore'
        ],

        // exclude: [ ],

        onBuildWrite : function(moduleName, path, content){
            // replace handlebars with the runtime version (which is many times
            // smaller)
            if (moduleName === 'Handlebars') {
                content = _fs.readFileSync('scripts/lib/handlebars.runtime.js').toString();
                content = content.replace(/(define\()(function)/, '$1"Handlebars", $2');
            }
            return content;
        }

    }, cb);

}



// ---


function compileSass(){
    if (! _shell.which('compass') ) {
        console.error('this build script requires "compass" to be installed globally. http://compass-style.org/install/');
        process.exit(1);
    }
    _shell.exec('compass compile .');
}


// ---


function deploy(){
    var assetsDir = _path.join(DIST_FOLDER, 'assets');
    var tempDir = _path.join(DIST_FOLDER, 'temp');

    _shell.mkdir('-p', assetsDir);
    _shell.mkdir('-p', tempDir);

    compileSass();

    optimizeJS(function(){

        // purge old files
        _shell.rm('-Rf', _path.join(assetsDir, 'styles'));
        _shell.rm('-Rf', _path.join(assetsDir, 'js'));
        _shell.rm('-Rf', _path.join(assetsDir, 'img'));
        _shell.rm('-Rf', _path.join(assetsDir, 'webfonts'));
        _shell.rm('-Rf', _path.join(tempDir, 'content'));

        // ---

        _shell.cp('-R', 'img', assetsDir);
        _shell.cp('-R', 'webfonts', assetsDir);
        _shell.cp('-R', 'content', tempDir);

        var jsDir = _path.join(assetsDir, 'js');
        _shell.mkdir('-p', jsDir);
        // TODO: minify requirejs
        _shell.cp('scripts/lib/require/require.js', _path.join(jsDir, 'require.js'));
        _shell.cp('scripts/main.min.js', _path.join(jsDir, 'main.js'));

        // need to keep same depth to avoid issues with webfonts/image paths
        var cssDir = _path.join(assetsDir, 'styles/css');
        _shell.mkdir('-p', cssDir);
        _shell.cp('styles/css/*', cssDir);

    });

}

I wrote this build script yesterday for a project in less than 20 minutes. I don't think it would be any simpler to write it with a tool like grunt, and if the build needs to be more complex in the future I can easily augment/refactor it.

Grunt is not all bad since you can still write plain JavaScript inside the tasks, but if you are writing plain JS why tie yourself to a single task runner?

• Stop writing plugins
• Why Everyone Eventually Hates Maven (this is half truth for Grunt, even tho you are allowed to write JS the task runner still limits what you can do and how you are supposed to structure the tasks)

It's a shame to see so many useful tools tied to a single task runner for no real benefit... Grunt and any other similar tool should not need to exist since we already have dozens of argument parsers.

PS: the build script above could be refactored to avoid duplications but I won't do it until it is needed, 160 LOC is pretty easy to manage - verbosity is not always a bad thing.