How does RequireJS work with multiple pages and partial views?

Update –
I’ve added an example of using RequireJS with modular HTML components. Build tool example included – https://github.com/simonsmith/modular-html-requirejs

I have also written a blog article about this – http://simonsmith.io/modular-html-components-with-requirejs/

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The approach of just using main.js for everything is probably more suited to a single page application.

The way I’ve handled this situation is to only include common site-wide JS in the main.js file:

On every page:

<script src="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10815454/require.js" data-main="main"></script>

main.js

require.config({
// config options
});

require(['jquery', 'common/ajaxLoader', 'common/someOtherModule'], function($, ajax, otherModule) {
    // Modules that do stuff on every page are instantiated here 
});

page1.html

<script>
    require(['scripts/page1']);
</script>

page1.js

require(['jquery', 'page1Module'], function($, module){
    // page1 specific stuff here
});

The above example is just one of a couple of ways to handle it. Note the difference between loading a plain JavaScript file and a module.

A rule of thumb I follow is to keep all reusable modules (or Classes if it makes it easier to conceptualise) inside a define with their own dependencies etc and then use require to grab those modules, use their methods or interact with them in some way.

Using this pattern will almost certainly require use of the domReady module that is a separate plugin for RequireJS. Use this instead of a ready function in jQuery for example, as it allows modules to begin downloading before the DOM is ready which reduces the wait for your code to execute.

Edit You may wish to see another example of multi-page application in the RequireJS repo