CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptbuildd3.jsgruntjsmiddleman
grssnbchr
grssnbchr

Reputation: 2974

Build system for JS applications - worth the effort?

In order to build static web pages to serve interactive news applications (mostly data visualizations scripted with something like D3 or lightweight apps built with Bootstrap.js), is it worth the effort to install and configure a build system like Middleman or Grunt.js?

The reason why I am asking is because I am not familiar with Ruby and Ruby Gems at all, and do not have the time and willingness at the moment to dwelve deeper into it, as I already know Python & Javascript pretty well.

Do I need to know Ruby in order to use Middleman productively? Or should I just use Grunt? I am asking because I want to reuse the same templates over and over again and heard that this is easy with Middleman.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 420

Answers (3)

ianp
ianp

Reputation: 123

If you're keen to use Grunt as a base for this sort of build, you may like to look at Assemble.io.

This is a static-site generator like Middleman, but one that is completely (currently) dependant upon Grunt tasks in order to do its thing.

I believe the learning curve for Assemble.io is rather higher than Middleman. It is based on Node, rather than Ruby. However I don't believe it's necessary to know Ruby in order to get a lot from Middleman.

Upvotes: 1

mxlje
mxlje

Reputation: 346

There is a distinct difference between Middleman and Grunt.
Grunt is a generic task runner while Middleman is a static site generator.

Middleman for example would be used to create a site with multiple URLs. You put some files in a folder and Middleman takes care of arranging them, creating subfolders for URLs, rendering layouts, compressing assets and in the end you have a bunch of files that represent the site. All this is built in.

You don’t necessarily need to know a lot of Ruby to get started with Middleman, but to get the most out of it, understand how it works and change configurations to your needs, basic Ruby knowledge is key.

Grunt on the other hand works by using plugins and telling them exactly what to do. By default it does nothing. You could think of Grunt as "framework", ready for you to add tasks. Compress these two css files. Combine these JS files and move theme over here. Things like that.

For building a complete website I recommend Middleman. In order to be able to use the templates you create in another language like JS, you could use Jade as a templating language. By default Middleman uses ERB (part of the Ruby standard library). Another popular choice is HAML, but I’m not sure if there is a decent JS compiler for it.

If you want to have really fine grained control over the output of your JS files (you’re talking about JS client side apps in your question) you can even use Grunt and Middleman together. Grunt would take care of the assets (you can have really detailed configurations there) and Middleman would handle templating, URL generation and all the other "default website related" stuff.

Upvotes: 2

krampstudio
krampstudio

Reputation: 3621

You may have a look to http://wintersmith.io/ a static page generator like Jekill or MiddleMan (I don't really know this one) With Grunt you have something at a lower level: Grunt provides you tasks to automate things so you'll have to find or write the task that fits your needs.

Upvotes: 0

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