Question

The continuous integration software I am using runs JavaScript files through JSLint and complains if they fail (using default JSLint settings it appears).

I’ve always prepended a ; to the start of my jQuery plugins, so concatenating them doesn’t lead to something like this…

common.js

I don’t have access to this file, and can’t enforce a semi colon at the end.

var abc = function() {
    alert(arguments[0]);
}

plugin.js

This is my file that is concatenated with common.js. It is appended straight to the end of common.js.

(function($) {
    $.fn.somePlugin = function() {}
})(jQuery);

jsFiddle of the problem this can cause.

jsFiddle of the solution (leading semi-colon of my plugin).

However, JSLint complains with…

Error:

Problem at line 1 character 1: Unexpected space between
‘(begin)’ and ‘;’.

;(function($) {

Problem at line 1 character 1: Expected ‘;’ at column 5, not column 1.

;(function($) {

Problem at line 1 character 2: Missing space between ‘;’ and ‘(‘.

…

I tried using a bang operator (!) instead, and a few other alternatives, but JSLint still complained.

What can I do to get this safety net and pass JSLint?

Answer 1

Patch JSLint to not mind. Everyone will benefit.