CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptwebstorm
Cool Blue
Cool Blue

Reputation: 6476

Webstorm JavaScript External Libraries vs Project Directories

In IIS and therefore VS, there are virtual directories which allow simplified, virtual, relative referencing in script tags. They are handy. In WebStorm you can get the same effect with Project Directories and then marking your project root as a Resource Root. If you do this, you also get coding assistance in the text editor.

WebStorm also has External Libraries, what is the point of these?
Is this for when you have a link to a CDN in your script tag and you want to get coding assistance? If you already have Project Directories, what is the point of External Libraries?

I've seen this answer and I kind of get the different modes of referencing/inclusion, but I don't get the big picture. What is the core reason for the External Libraries vs the Project Directories?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 119

Answers (1)

lena
lena

Reputation: 93728

Is this for when you have a link to a CDN in your script tag and you want to get coding assistance?

Yes, this is the most common case - WebStorm can't use online resources for code assistance, it needs to have the corresponding javascript files available locally. So, if you don't like to pollute your project folder with all these library files, you can have them stored outside of your project and set up as libraries.

What is the core reason for the External Libraries vs the Project Directories?

See above - external libraries allow storing library files in an arbitrary location outside your project folder and still get code completion/highlighting/etc. Please also see the answer you refer to:

Note also that libraries are 'light-weight' as compared to .js files in your project - they are treated read-only, have the inspections turned off. Plus, you can assign documentation URLs to them, enabling external documentation for library code. So, even if you have your library files in your project, it might make sense to add them as libraries

see also this blog post

Upvotes: 2

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