[Pkg-javascript-devel] Bug#983190: Bug#983190: datatables.js: upstream versions >1.10.21 do not build with Debian's closure-compiler

[Sascha Steinbiss]

Hi,

>>>> If you are wondering why there haven't been any updates lately, I 
>>>> am sad to announce that current versions of datatables.js does not 
>>>> build anymore with the old version of closure-compiler in Debian.
>>>
>>> Looks like it does not really need to use closure-compiler, so I 
>>> would suggest to instead use uglifyjs.
>>
>> I see. Do you think that would be safe to use as a replacement? Both 
>> would generate functionally equivalent minified JS, right? Ignoring 
>> slight size differences, of course -- the uglifyjs output is ~50KB 
>> larger than the closure-compiler one in a previous version.
> 
> In theory closure-compiler and uglify-js perform same type of task, yes.

[...]

> Only way to know for sure is to test that resulting uglified code does 
> what it is supposed do to.

Difficult, because the tool I initially needed it as a dependency for
(aegean) does not use the minified version. But I can tweak the output
to use that and see if the behaviour breaks -- it doesn't seem to really
use much of the datatables functionality with the non-minified version
anyway. So if it breaks in subtle ways I won't catch it.

[...]
>> So I think it would be quite doable to scrap closure-compiler here and 
>> switch to uglifyjs and sassc if you don't see any obvious reasons to 
>> abandon upstream's choice of tools. Given my limited expertise in JS 
>> best practices I would be happy to trust your advice :)
> 
> I sure think uglifyjs is safer to use than *outdated* closure-compiler.  
> Just make sure to test the result as best you can.

I wonder if there is anything that would allow me to easily test the
behaviour without really knowing much about what is possible with
datatables. I'll look at the other reverse deps when I find the time.

> I even think that switching from outdated closure-compiler to uglifyjs 
> is a noble thing to do during soft-freeze - but that's your call!

I think I'd rather stick with a not-so-fresh version that is built
traditionally than shipping one I have not tested and does not use
upstream's recommended tools. I'd prefer to postpone this till the next
release. Unless there are volunteers...

Cheers
Sascha