Carabiner 1.0: Asset Management Library

[eluser]tonydewan[/eluser]
Well, that would probably be a matter of opinion. I looked at AssetLibPro before i built Carabiner, and there were a few things I didn't like about it. They are:

Use of a Config File
I think separate config file is a little overkill in this instance.

Unmodified CSS Tidy and JSMin
I rather dislike the idea of including tools in my CI application that aren't directly usable within it. Plus CSSTidy is big. I chose to port JSMin and a CSS minification class to CI directly, and use them the 'CI way' within Carabiner.

PHP Cached Files
AssetLibPro stores it's cached files as PHP files. I don't like the idea of PHP being interpreted for static assets. I also don't like how the file reference doesn't have a proper (js|css) extension. This is the only way to do some of the things it does (like GZIP and far-future headers), so I'm not saying it's wrong. I just don't like it.

Otherwise, the thing that I wanted most that AssetLibPro didn't provide was the ability to do different things based on the environment. Part of my standard CI install is an application-wide flag for development vs production environment. Carabiner is set up using that flag, so I never have to think about it. When I'm in development, the full scripts/stylesheets are in use, so I can easily debug, etc. Then, when I move things to production, assets are automatically combined/minified/cached. So, to answer your question directly:

The biggest advantage of Carabiner over AssetLibPro is the fact that it automatically reacts differently based on where you are in the development cycle.

All that being said, AssetLibPro is really nice. There is a lot I like about it, and there's a lot that it does that Carabiner does not (GZIP, Far-Future headers, asset grouping). There's a reason I listed it as inspiration!