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by douchescript 528 days ago
What’s the best way to use JavaScript on rails these days?

I’ve been using rails for over 20 years and still love it but the JavaScript story has always been in flux in bad ways. I don’t like the turbo stuff or stimulus. Basically just want to be able to add some nice charts, and some enhancements like confirmation for links. Basically just build admins with it so the caching for partial html just isn’t part of the game. Looked at upgrading to rails 8 now but the javascript in last version of rails was fragmented and complicated, so looking to find a good way to do it in a standard way now, hopefully next version of rail’s doesn’t change everything again.
2 comments
itsthecourier 528 days ago
just use importmaps

https://guides.rubyonrails.org/working_with_javascript_in_ra...

- Adding npm Packages with importmap-rails To add new packages to your import map-powered application, run the bin/importmap pin command from your terminal:

$ bin/importmap pin react react-dom

Then, import the package into application.js as usual:

import ReactDOM from "react-dom"

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douchescript 525 days ago
It would be a valid thing if there was a documented way to convert a generic node package to import map. Not much stuff in that importmap ecosystem - seems doa.
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douchescript 528 days ago
But how do you integrate and turn on at a specific page/controller view? Look for a specific dom id?
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breckenedge 528 days ago
The fragmentation is more an implication of the ever changing landscape of JS frameworks and build tools than Rails.

For me, Stimulus adds just the right amount of structure over Vanilla JS.

And Turbo/Hotwire feels like building skyscrapers with wood vs. steel.

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mardifoufs 527 days ago
What? No, it's just rails that has changed how it handles JS, or at least the recommended way to handle JS very often throughout the year. It's weird to blame it on the JavaScript ecosystem. Like I can't figure out what changes in the JS ecosystem you are referring to exactly.
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breckenedge 527 days ago
Rails has changed it four times in 12 years:

* Prototype

* Asset pipeline

* Webpacker

* Importmaps

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douchescript 525 days ago
There was also the coffeescript romance, that was brief. But maybe earlier.
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