Javascript modules

What is being done in Drupal 7

AMD

What is AMD?

AMD stands for Asynchronous Module Definition, it specifies a mechanism for defining modules such that the module and its dependencies can be asynchronously loaded. To read more about this Javascript specification, go to https://github.com/amdjs/amdjs-api/wiki/AMD
AMD is the browser-friendly version of CommonJS. It will be possible to use both CommonJS and AMD format by the end, it's just a little easier to start with AMD.

Advantages of getting AMD into Drupal

• Follow a battle-tried module definition and implementation
• Dependency handling and resolution between scripts
• Speed up page load: scripts can be loaded asynchronously
• Reduce JS footprint: only load what you need
• Make on-demand loading easy
• Avoid the use of globals

How to get AMD into Drupal?

• Modify Drupal API (hook_library_info) to handle enough meta data for AMD configuration
• Add all the informations to library_info for core JS files
• Use RequireJS as a first implementation of an AMD loader
• Use AMD-style configuration to replace Drupal.settings
• Make it pluggable so people don't get stuck with AMD or RequireJS
• Make a basic PHP version of r.js (NodeJS/Rhino preprocessor/optimizer)