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Client side third-party libraries

The update management of third-party libraries can become a complex task, especially if there is a larger number of dependencies. We would like to keep these dependencies as low as possible.

Before proposing a new library please

  • check if standard CSS/HTML can fit your needs (e.g. effects, animation) and
  • try to avoid libraries that create dependencies to other libraries.

New dependencies MUST be approved by the Jour Fixe of the ILIAS society or by the Technical Board.

Use of jQuery

jQuery has played a major role for our Javascript code in the past, however we believe that since ES6 and above got widely supported in all relevant browsers, using standard Javascript might be a better choice in many cases.

  • Use Standard Javascript whenever possible.
  • Avoid jQuery-dependent libraries whenever possible, prefer third-party libraries without dependencies.

npm

npm is used in ILIAS mostly to organise client side js and css libraries.

To propose a new dependency, create a Pull Request on GitHub that contains the proposed changes to package.json, name it like "Add library XYZ" and assign the "jour fixe"-label.

Dependencies for production

  • Install the new library, e.g. "npm install [email protected]"
  • Add a section in "extra" with the following metadata":
 "jquery": {
      "introduction-date": "2017-08-03",
      "approved-by": "Technical Board", // "Technical Board" or "Jour Fixe"
      "developer": "Username of the developer which introduced to Library",
      "purpose": "Describe the reason why this library is needed in ILIAS.",
      "last-update-for-ilias": "5.3.0" // ILIAS Version that last updated this Library
    },
  • Commit the changes in packages.json and package-lock.json and node_modules.

If you like to install a dependency from a particular branch of a public GitHub repository, you can use the following syntax (example):

npm install ILIAS-eLearning/tinymce-dist#master

For an update you'll have to use:

npm uninstall tinymce && npm install ILIAS-eLearning/tinymce-dist#master

Dependencies for development

  • Install the new library, e.g. "npm install webpack --save-dev"

  • Commit the changes in packages.json and package-lock.json

  • Commit the changes in packages.json and package-lock.json and node_modules.

Currently, commit the node_modes directory, this will most probably be abandoned from the git repo in the future.