Javascript / Client Side Development :: JavaScript code minimizer (not obfuscator!)


	JavaScript code minimizer (not obfuscator!) Hi group, A few years ago, I translated Douglas Crockford's JsMin from C to C#, because we wanted to use this functionality in our build process. JsMin is a code minimizer for JavaScript. It will remove all comments, empty lines, turn tabs into single spaces, etc... The goal is to reduce the size of JavaScript files to the minimum necessary, without modifying the functionality. Additionally to reducing the script's size, JsMin also makes it more difficult to read, however it is not an obfuscator. Objects, variables, methods names are not modified. While such a functionality wouldn't be very difficult to add, we believe that it is pointless to obfuscate JavaScript files. Note: This is a direct translation from C (procedural) to C#. I didn't refactor the object too much, so the design is far from perfect, but it works well. Note 2: I just found out that Douglas translated JsMin from C to C# too, his version is available on his site, so pick the one you prefer ;-) http://geekswithblogs.net/lbugnion/archive/2007/02/23/107120.aspx HTH, Laurent -- Laurent Bugnion [MVP ASP.NET] Software engineering, Blog: http://www.galasoft-LB.ch PhotoAlbum: http://www.galasoft-LB.ch/pictures Support children in Calcutta: http://www.calcutta-espoir.ch Laurent Bugnion [MVP] wrote: > JsMin is a code minimizer for JavaScript. It will remove all > comments, empty lines, turn tabs into single spaces, etc... The goal > is to reduce the size of JavaScript files to the minimum necessary, > without modifying the functionality. Is there any benefit to JsMin over Packer? I admit, I've not compared the two, but I use Packer. -- Matt Kruse http://www.JavascriptToolbox.com http://www.AjaxToolbox.com Hi, Matt Kruse wrote: > Laurent Bugnion [MVP] wrote: >> JsMin is a code minimizer for JavaScript. It will remove all >> comments, empty lines, turn tabs into single spaces, etc... The goal >> is to reduce the size of JavaScript files to the minimum necessary, >> without modifying the functionality. > Is there any benefit to JsMin over Packer? > I admit, I've not compared the two, but I use Packer. I don't know. Packer seems to obfuscate too, which we explicitly didn't want in our project. Besides, I suspect that packer was not around when we needed a code minimizer. I knew Douglas' JsMin already at that time, so that's what we used. I didn't compare either. Greetings, Laurent -- Laurent Bugnion [MVP ASP.NET] Software engineering, Blog: http://www.galasoft-LB.ch PhotoAlbum: http://www.galasoft-LB.ch/pictures Support children in Calcutta: http://www.calcutta-espoir.ch