Building a JS application using Maven

When developing web applications with an abundance of JS, over time you come across the need to automate building and testing, as well as building various reports, documentation, etc. We encountered this problem almost immediately after the start of the project. Due to the fact that the server part is implemented in Java, the choice obviously fell on Maven. It remained to find a plugin that can work with javascript.

Searches were short-lived and led to mojo.codehaus.org/javascript-maven-tools/ . “What you need,” I thought, and began to fasten it to the project.

Plug-in connection

First, let's configure maven to use plugins from the sandbox .

Project preparation

Create a project with the structure described on the site of the plugin. The pom.xml file can be taken from the example from the site.
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Build Setup

Add the following section to pom.xml:

< build >
< outputDirectory > target/scripts </ outputDirectory >
< testOutputDirectory > target/test-scripts </ testOutputDirectory >
< plugins >
< plugin >
< groupId > org.codehaus.mojo.javascript </ groupId >
< artifactId > javascript-maven-plugin </ artifactId >
< version > 1.0-alpha-1-SNAPSHOT </ version >
< extensions > true </ extensions >
< configuration >
< descriptor > ${basedir}/src/main/assembler/solution.jsb </ descriptor >
</ configuration >
< executions >
< execution >
< goals >
< goal > compile </ goal >
</ goals >
</ execution >
</ executions >
</ plugin >
</ plugins >
</ build >

* This source code was highlighted with Source Code Highlighter .

Now at the compilation phase, the plugin will merge the files specified in solution.jsb into one (or several) packages.

Report Setup

As usual we add (or change) the section in pom.xml

< reporting >
< plugins >
< plugin >
< groupId > org.codehaus.mojo.javascript </ groupId >
< artifactId > javascript-report-maven-plugin </ artifactId >
< version > 1.0-alpha-1-SNAPSHOT </ version >
< reportSets >
< reportSet >
< reports >
< report > jsdoc </ report >
< report > jslint </ report >
</ reports >
</ reportSet >
</ reportSets >
</ plugin >
</ plugins >
</ reporting >

* This source code was highlighted with Source Code Highlighter .

Now at the stage of site generation (site target), we will generate jsdoc, as well as a report on the correctness of the code (with the help of JSLint). The result of JSLint is especially useful, as it allows to eliminate shortcomings and errors in the code at an early stage (for example, an extra comma in the array is very sad for IE).

Build project

To build a project, just run the mvn compile command at the root of the project. After that, we will have an assembled application in the target/scripts folder, ready to be uploaded to the site.

To generate reports, you must run the command mvn site . The generated reports will be found in the target/site folder target/site

A spoon of tar

Unfortunately, this plugin is in a state of alpha testing. But this is not the worst. Worse, the plugin no longer develops. Last activity is dated the beginning of the 9th year.

A barrel of honey

Due to the fact that this plugin is actively used in our project, we have prepared several patches and are planning to offer their owner javascript-maven-tools.
Ps. Thank God, the license allows you to fork the project, so in case of a negative response, we will definitely take advantage of the Apache License.