Question

As development progresses I use more and more javascript/jQuery libraries that I find in github (I know there are other sources, but github is the most prominent).

The problem arises when I notice the library has update with bug fixes or new features or worse – backwards incompatible changes to other libraries.

Is there something like Gemnasium for javascript libraries?
What is the best way to keep track of libraries I use which are not gemmed?

Answer 1

You should consider using a package manager such as Bower. It’s the gem for javascript and other client side assets.

There are others, but I recommend Bower, because it integrates well with GitHub. Many popular components can be found in the Bower package registry, but if they aren’t, Bower also supports pulling dependencies directly from a git url.

Bower allows you to specify dependency versions with semantic versioning with support for version ranges, and when you run bower update, it updates your project’s packages, if new versions are avaiable within the constraints you’ve specified.