[Jam][] is a package manager for front-end [JavaScript][].  While you
want to use [[npm|Node]] for server-side stuff, Jam is the tool to use
for JavaScript that you'll be sending to your users.  Following the
[docs][] (with my already-configured [[`~/.local` prefix|Node]]):

    $ npm install -g jamjs

Integrating with Django is a bit tricky, especially since Jam doesn't
manage the CSS, images, … that are often associated with JavaScript
libraries.  If you need that, you probably want to look at [[Bower]]
instead.

Write a setup `package.json` defining your project's dependencies:

    {
      "name": "myproject",
      "version": "0.0.1",
      "description": "An example project"
      "dependencies": {
        // NPM dependencies go here…
        "async": "0.1.22"
      },
      "jam": {
        "packageDir": "apps/my-app/static/js/",
        "baseUrl": "apps/beehive_common",
        "dependencies": {
          // Jam dependencies go here…
          "jquery": "1.7.1",
          "underscore": null
        }
      }
    }

Install your dependencies with:

    $ jam install

Upgrade with:

    $ jam upgrade

Compile just the bits you use into a single require-able replacement.

    $ jam compile apps/my-app/static/js/require.js

This last bit is really cool, and where a less JavaScript-oriented
tool like [[Bower]] falls short.  [Jam is using][jam-compile] the
[RequireJS optimizer][optimizer] under the hood for the task, so if
you don't use Jam you can always run the optimizer directly.

[[!tag tags/programming]]
[[!tag tags/tools]]
[[!tag tags/web]]

[Jam]: http://jamjs.org
[JavaScript]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JavaScript
[docs]: http://jamjs.org/docs
[jam-compile]: https://github.com/caolan/jam/blob/master/lib/commands/compile.js#L8
[optimizer]: http://requirejs.org/docs/optimization.html