How to compile a npm module into a browser script?

Question

I want to customize the Parse SDK. They provide source through an npm module, which makes it usable in node environments.

How can I compile this node module into a standalone parse.js script which will run as it is on a browser?

I tried using browserify as

browserify ./parse -o parse.js

but the parse.js it spits out is quite large and still contains node remanents: process and require commands. Although it executes without any error on browser, the browser cannot find Parse definition.

It's large because it adds browser compatible process and so on. What do you have in parse.js? — Shanoor
– Shanoor, Commented Nov 25, 2015 at 11:44

Shubham Kanodia · Accepted Answer · 2015-11-27 18:55:04Z

Found the correct way to compile the parse npm module into a browser script is to use:

browserify path/to/npm/parse --standalone parse > parse-browser.js

For any other script it should be :

browserify path_to_module --standalone global_name_to_expose > output.js

Also, since the parse node module has a lot of node code, I would recommend people to use envify followed by uglify to make their code more optimized.

Pete TNT · Accepted Answer · 2015-11-25 11:47:18Z

AFAIK, Parse-module doesn't expose itself as a browser global. You should have a file, such as app.js that contains your definitions and use that to require the Parse module.

For example:

//app.js var Parse = require("parse"); console.log(Parse)

Bundle it (the bundle will contain your app.js and the contents of the parse-module:

browserify ./app.js -o app.bundle.js

and include the bundled file to your HTML file

<script src="app.bundle.js"

After you open your HTML file, you should see the Parse object in your console.

Parse does expose the Parse method/class globally. Thanks anyway ;)

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