Loaders

Loaders

AMD isn't the only javascript module standard. For instance, CommonJS defines it's own module specification. CommonJS Modules/1.1 is used in many server-side javascript envionments.

Rather than code every type of module standard into curl.js, we made it easy to extend curl.js to support other formats. Module loaders (or just "loaders") are used to extend curl.js to understand the other formats.

curl.js 0.6 comes with an experimental loader for CommonJS Modules/1.1, (curl/loader/cjsm11). Loaders to perform other tasks besides just interpreting other module formats are possible, too. For instance, a module loader to cache AMD modules in localStorage could be implemented using module loaders.

Module loaders are specified by the "moduleLoader" property on a package's configuration. Here's a simple example:

curl({
	packages: {
		myNodeProj: {
			// typical package config
			path: 'path/to/myNodeProj',
			lib: '.',
			main: 'main',
			// package-specific config
			moduleLoader: 'curl/loader/cjsm11'
		}
	}
});

Write your own Module Loader

So far, we've been able to reuse the same API as AMD Plugins to implement module loaders. Many module loaders should be implementable this way. Others may need to access more of the internals of curl.js. Devs who need the internal API can request the curl/_privileged module to gain access to curl.js's internals. (Take a peek at the curl/debug module for hints about how to use curl.js's internals.)

Experimental

Note: the curl/_privileged module is experimental at this point and is likely to change. Be sure to follow curl.js's dev branch closely if you plan to write production code using curl.js's internal APIs.

The property name, "moduleLoader", may also change.