[jffry]

Backbone may or may not be right for you. Fortunately it's small, and fairly easy to read. The annotated sources [1][2] for BackBone and Underscore are fairly accessible.

Also, I would highly recommend adding an AMD loader like require.js to your "basics kit". Code organization gets very important very fast, and it helps to think modular-and-reusable from the beginning.

[1] http://underscorejs.org/docs/underscore.html

[2] http://backbonejs.org/docs/backbone.html

[SkyMarshal]

Plenty of debate these days over whether to use an AMD-based loaders like require.js [1], or to bundle all your js into a single file with Browserify [2]. Worth someone new being aware of, but that debate can get rather complicated.

[1]:http://requirejs.org/

[2]:http://browserify.org/

[clavalle]

All of you are giving good advice but I just have to chuckle at how quickly you all proved OPs point.

[georgemcbay]

Yeah this is one of the best examples of people proving a point by trying to disprove it I've ever seen.

"The ecosystem isn't (that) confusing, just use X Y and Z"

- "No, use X Y and A"

-- "Who uses Y? Use C"

Myth: confirmed!

[TheZenPsycho]

Well, I wasn't trying to say it wasn't confusing. Just trying to reduce the confusion by picking a starter pack. It doesn't work if everyone else flinches and decides they have a better starter pack than me!

[Helianthus]

hahaha this was hilarious even before I saw the 15 or so additional contradictory suggestions below this thread.

[SkyMarshal]

That was the point ;)

[jasonlotito]

Just a heads up, but require.js supports moving everything into a single file:

http://requirejs.org/docs/optimization.html

Your comment makes it seem like it doesn't.

[vonseel]

For someone new to JS, as I once was, Require.JS can really complicate things. I know I read all these comments and blog posts saying "Use require.js!", so I thought I had to use it. Well, it took a long time to figure out how to structure my Backbone code that way. Most examples and tutorials aren't using Require.JS, and that also makes things harder. I would use it now on a backbone project, but not sure if I would recommend it to beginners.