Dojo Boilerplate: A Starter Kit for Dojo Development

The Dojo Boilerplate is a set of files to help you rapidly get up and running with the Dojo Toolkit. It illustrates some basic best practices when working with Dojo. This is the branch for the new Dojo 1.7 loader and build systems, which use AMD modules; there is also a branch using the old synchronous loader, for use with Dojo 1.6.

Huge thanks go out to neonstalwart for his original dojo-requirejs-template project. Though that repository is no longer maintained, it was instrumental in providing guidance for earlier versions of the AMD branch.

Quick Start

0. Clone the repository using git clone --recursive.
1. Develop your project in src/ until it is amazing.
2. Run build.sh, which will create an awesome optimised build in dist/.
3. Upload dist/ for millions of people the world over to enjoy.
4. Hapyness.

Windows Users

If you have msysgit installed, run Git Bash and verify some dependencies by running the following commands:

which java
which node

If at least java is available, you’re ready to go; cd to your project directory and follow the Quick Start instructions above. If Java is missing, you will need to install it. Node.js is optional, but will reward you with much faster builds.

A brief tour

• The starting point of the boilerplate is the file at src/index.html for the client, and src/server.sh for a server running Node.js. These files are responsible for loading the Dojo loader and the application’s bootstrapper script.
• The file src/app/run.js is your application’s bootstrapper script. In it, you can configure paths, packages, and other configuration options that should apply to both the client and the server. By default, this file simply configures paths and packages and then loads src/app/main.js (by way of the second [ 'app' ] argument).
• The file build.sh takes your application files and builds them for production use using the Dojo build tool. It depends on the presence of the build profile at src/app/app.profile.js.
• The file src/app/resources/app.css contains import statements to load the CSS for Dojo’s Claro theme. If you are not using Dijit widgets, you probably want to remove these imports!
• The directory src/dbp contains tools you may find useful. These tools are a work in progress, and are not yet updated to AMD syntax.

Useful resources

• Dojo Reference Guide (latest release version)
• Dojo Reference Guide (Dojo trunk)
• Introduction to Custom Dojo Widgets

About the boilerplate

This boilerplate is constantly updated to try to reflect the latest and greatest features and design patterns for writing Web apps with Dojo, but it relies heavily on information and contributions from other users. If you have an idea, suggestion, or problem, please report it or create a pull request! (Please note that you will need to have signed the Dojo CLA before your pull requests are accepted, for the good of us all!)

License

The Dojo Boilerplate is licensed under the same terms as the Dojo Toolkit. Consult the individual projects (see the Useful resources section above) for additional licensing information.