MiniAsset Library Released

For a number of years, I’ve developed the AssetCompress CakePHP plugin. Simultaneously, I’ve maintained similar code at FreshBooks. To make both code bases better, and give non-CakePHP projects the ability to leverage the tool chain that AssetCompress provides, I decided to make a new standalone library – MiniAsset . This library, only depends on some CLI helpers, and provides core functionality of AssetCompress.

What MiniAsset does

Mini Asset is a small footprint library that provide tools to assist in building an asset minification/optimization pipeline. It uses a simple INI based configuration file that lets you define output files, that are comprised of a number of input files. Input files can be processed by filters on a per-extension or per file basis. Filters allow you to integrate existing pre-processors and minifiers or build your own.

Other Features

• Built-in support for LESScss, Sass and CoffeeScript, as well as several minifiers.
• Powerful and flexible filter system allowing you to add your own minifiers/pre-processors.
• Simple INI configuration files.
• Incremental builds that don’t recompile assets when they don’t need to be.
• Command Line Tools for building and clearing assets.

Documentation

The README gives a quick overview on how to use the library. The wiki has additional documentation on the configuration file and filters.

I feel its stable enough to use in production as it is already in use for cakephp.org, FreshBooks and this site. I hope it can be of some use to you, in your work.