Consider removing the app.js file

[caendesilva]

Do we actually need the app.js file? We just use Alpine at the moment, so it's empty by default. The app.css file at least loads Tailwind.

• See https://github.com/hydephp/develop/issues/2026.

[caendesilva]

Claude Sonnet

• Note: Analysis run on the https://github.com/hydephp/develop/pull/2006 v2 branch

Based on the provided code snippets, it appears that the app.js file is not strictly necessary in the current HydePHP setup. Here's my analysis:

1. The app.js file is essentially empty, containing only a comment:

/*
* This is the main JavaScript used by Vite to build the app.js file.
*/

2. The main JavaScript functionality currently comes from Alpine.js, which is loaded directly via CDN in the scripts layout:

{{-- Alpine.js --}}
<script defer src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/alpinejs@3.10.3/dist/cdn.min.js" integrity="sha256-gOkV4d9/FmMNEkjOzVlyM2eNAWSUXisT+1RbMTTIgXI=" crossorigin="anonymous"></script>

3. The Vite configuration does include app.js in its build process:

            input: [
                resolve(__dirname, 'resources/assets/app.js'),
                resolve(__dirname, 'resources/assets/app.css')
            ],

4. However, looking at the test files, the only test for app.js just checks that it exists and contains a comment:

    public function testLaravelMixResourcesArePresent()
    {
        $this->assertFileExists(Hyde::path('resources/assets/app.css'));
        $this->assertFileExists(Hyde::path('resources/assets/app.js'));

        $this->assertFileContainsString('@tailwind base;', Hyde::path('resources/assets/app.css'));
        $this->assertFileContainsString('@tailwind components;', Hyde::path('resources/assets/app.css'));
        $this->assertFileContainsString('@tailwind utilities;', Hyde::path('resources/assets/app.css'));

        $this->assertFileContainsString('This is the main JavaScript', Hyde::path('resources/assets/app.js'));
    }

Recommendation:

1. The app.js file could be safely removed since:

   • It's currently empty except for a comment
   • All JavaScript functionality is handled by Alpine.js via CDN
   • No other components seem to depend on it
   • The file is only included in development when Vite is running

2. To remove it:

   • Delete resources/assets/app.js
   • Update the Vite config to only handle CSS
   • Update any tests that check for its existence
   • Update documentation to reflect that JavaScript is handled via Alpine.js CDN

However, you might want to keep the empty file as a convenience for users who want to add their own JavaScript in the future, since the build pipeline is already set up to handle it. This follows Hyde's philosophy of being ready for customization while not requiring it.

[caendesilva]

Okay, in https://github.com/hydephp/develop/pull/2028 we will keep the app.js in resources to keep it easily available, but we won't compile the empty file. So that resolves the annoyance here.