Closure Script
A development environment for Google Closure Tools.
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the “License”); http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
Installing
Everything you need for advanced Google Closure development is available in a single .jar for the Java Virtual Machine. You may also run the tools on any Ruby platform (>=1.8.6) including JRuby (JVM), Rubinius (LLVM), and Ruby 1.9 (YARV).
It is generally easier to get started with the .jar distribution, especially under Windows. Mac OSX and most Linux will have a compatible Ruby by default.
Java (.jar)
Step 1: Download to a new folder
cd ~/empty-dir
curl -LO https://github.com/downloads/AE9RB/closure-script/closure-1.4.2.jar
Step 2: Start server from the new folder
java -jar closure-1.4.2.jar
Step 3: Open a web browser
http://localhost:8080/
Ruby (.gem)
Step 1: Install the gem
gem install closure
Step 2: Start server from a new folder
cd ~/empty-dir
Step 3: Open a web browser
http://localhost:8080/
The Closure Script Method
When you start the server for the first time in an empty folder, the home page will prompt you to install scaffolding. This includes three example projects to demonstrate soy, modules, and unobtrusive markup. Dissecting and working with these examples is the fast track to understanding The Closure Script Method.
The Server
Closure Script is a high-performance, multi-threaded web application engineered exclusively for the needs of Google Closure Javascript development.
You will be freed from the command line. All error output from the compiler will show on the Javascript console. This avoids lost time from not being in the correct log and missing an important error. Javascript compilation is done just-in-time and only when source files have changed. No need for a separate build step; just refresh the browser. Not working? Check your Javascript console. Then back to your editor.
Easy Configuration
You’ll need to supply the directories where you have source Javascript and static files.
Ruby developers will recognize that Closure Script is Rack middleware. This makes it trivial
to include the Closure Script build tool in a Rails application. If you’re not developing a
Ruby application, your config.ru will probably never be more complex than the following:
require 'closure'
Closure.add_source '.', '/'
use Closure::Middleware, 'index'
run Rack::File.new '.'
The add_source command may be duplicated for each source Javascript folder you want to serve. The first argument is the local filesystem path, the second is the mount point for the http server. Make sure not to accidentally serve more than one copy of Closure Library per Closure Script server or you’ll get an error.
Cut-and-Paste Ruby
In practice, all you do with Ruby is adjust the arguments to compiler.jar by analyzing options on the URL query string. If you can handle conditionally appending strings to an array in Ruby, then you’re fully qualified to use Closure Script! There’s enough example code in the scaffolding to cut-and-paste your way to victory.
Demo Scripts
The Closure Script Method is to create various demo pages to drive development. You may also choose to use your main application instead of Closure Script for your demo pages.
Files ending with .erb are Closure Scripts and will have their embedded Ruby evaluated
as they are served. Scripts may also render other Scripts and pass variables if you
need that complexity. Scripts default to a MIME type of text/html so demo.erb is
the same as demo.html.erb.
<html>
<head>
<script src='compiler.js?<%= query_string %>'></script>
</head>
Compiler Scripts
Compilation is performed by requesting a file that generates Javascript instead of HTML. The goog.compile() function of Closure Script handles everything for you.
Note that goog.compile() does not simply call the compiler. It will monitor your source files and skip calling the compiler if everything is up to date. The Java process will remain running on a REPL so subsequent compilations don’t pay the Java startup cost. The dependency tree for all your sources is known so you can build from namespaces (–ns) as well as files (–js). Modules have been automated to find common dependencies, like plovr, and work from namespaces so you don’t need to use filenames and counts. The luxurious goog.compile() can serve up a loader for the raw, uncompiled files, even when working with modules.
A very simple compiler.js.erb is as follows. Check the scaffold for practical examples that use the query string.
<%
args = %w{
--compilation_level ADVANCED_OPTIMIZATIONS
--js_output_file compiler_build.js
--ns myapp.helloWorld
}
@response = goog.compile(args).to_response
%>
Testing
Closure Script helps with testing because it can see your data in ways that
browsers are not allowed to. The alltests.js file in Closure Library is
generated by a program that scans the filesystem. Here’s a replacement in
Closure Script so that a manual build step never has to be executed again:
<% all_test_files = Dir.glob expand_path '**/*_test.html'
json_strings = all_test_files.map { |x| relative_src(x).dump }
-%>var _allTests = [<%= json_strings.join(',') %>];
Since all of Ruby is at your disposal, you could even pull fixture data from SQL or a web service. Perhaps a fixture refresh happens when the developer pushes a form button. The svn.erb tool is a complex example that uses threads and a background process. You’re only limited by your imagination.