Using source maps

The eslisp compiler supports source maps via compiler flags. Source maps are a file format that various JavaScript development tools can read, and use to associate generated JavaScript code with locations in the original source files it was compiled from.

Embedded source map

The easiest way to get a source map from the eslisp compiler is to add an --embed-source-map flag to eslc.

The output JavaScript will look something like—

console.log('Hello!');
//# sourceMappingURL=data:application/json;base64,eyJ2ZXJzaW9uIjozLCJzb3VyY2VzIjpbInRlc3QuZXNsIl0sIm5hbWVzIjpbImNvbnNvbGUiLCJsb2ciXSwibWFwcGluZ3MiOiJBQUFJQSxPQUFGLENBQVVDLEdBQVosQ0FBaUIsUUFBakIsQyIsInNvdXJjZXNDb250ZW50IjpbIigoLiBjb25zb2xlIGxvZykgXCJIZWxsbyFcIilcbiJdfQ==

—where that last line contains an encoded version of the original eslisp source, and all mappings from one to the other.

Note that because source maps require a file name, you'll need to pass a file name to eslc. (You can't generate source maps for code received on stdin).

External source map

You can also generate a source map to a file, if you have a custom setup or are concerned about file size. This is done with the --source-map-outfile flag, which expects to be given a path to a target file.

The JavaScript source code is output on stdout regardless.

Note that to tell dev tools about the source map, you'll have to add an appropriate //# sourceMappingURL=...-line to the generated JavaScript yourself. Eslisp doesn't do this because it makes no assumptions about your web server's directory structure.

For example, if a source map is available at /js/map/test.js.map on your web server, you might want to have a build step that adds the line—

//# sourceMappingUrl=/js/map/test.js.map

—to the end of the generated test.js file.

Generating a source map with the module API

If you're using the eslisp compiler as a module, you can also use it to compile simultaneously to a source map and a JavaScript program: require("eslisp").withSourceMap takes the same arguments as the basic compiler, the differences are that it

returns a { code, map } object instead of just code, and
requires its second argument to be an object containing a filename property (which the source maps spec requires).

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