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I'm planning to implement a solution for combining multiple js/css files into single files in my MVC project, but currently I doubt between the following two possibilities:

Telerik Extensions for ASP.NET MVC (www.telerik.com/products/aspnet-mvc.aspx)

  • Supports combining multiple files into one request
  • Supports groups of web assets
  • Supports caching groups
  • Caching is disabled when application is in Debug mode
  • Groups of assets must be defined in masterpage or (partial) view
  • Supports GZip compression
  • Supports CDN
  • More than only a compression / combining solution (eg. JQuery helpers)

Combres - WebForm & MVC Client-side Resource Combine Library (combres.codeplex.com)

  • Supports combining multiple files into one request
  • Supports minifying resources
  • Supports groups of web assets
  • Supports caching of groups
  • Supports versions of groups (invalidates the browser's cache and server's cache)
  • Supports debugmode (disables caching/minifying)
  • Groups of assets must be defined in a web config section
  • Supports GZip compression
  • A custom route must be added
  • Supports custom filters
  • Uses the YUI Compressor library

Does anyone has experience with one of these or maybe another combining solution? I'm particularly interested in YSlow scores (before and after) and/or compression statistics/performances.

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  • I thought less people were merging these kinds of files into 1 because newer browsers can download them in parallel today. Also, areas that pertain to different parts of the site can be loaded quicker, and then still cached for the next time they're needed. This even helps to avoid some JavaScript collisions. I think that category of YSlow is a little dated. Commented Nov 4, 2009 at 2:08
  • I agree on you that combining all files into 1 is no longer the most efficient option due to parallel connections, but we still have a reasonable amount of < IE8 users to deal with. So defining a few groups of assets would be the best option. Commented Nov 4, 2009 at 14:55

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You could use MvcContrib.IncludeHandling. Supports:

  • Combining multiple files into one request
  • Combining CSS
  • Combining JS
  • Debug-mode via MvcContrib.Filters.DebugFilter
  • Cache-headers
  • GZip / Deflate compression
  • Configuration
  • Swapping out the default implementations of the parts it relies on with your own implementations (for example; swap out the cache with your own implementation)
  • Registering includes in views as well as masters - will ignore duplicate registrations.

All happens at run-time; no build-steps etc required. No custom route required. Uses YUICompressor.

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Are you planning to use the Telerik MVC Extensions when they become available? If so, then their script combiner seems like a natural choice, as their widgets integrate with it...

If you're going to use script and css resources from multiple sources, then how about a good old-fashioned build script in your build environment of choice?

  • It is generally easy to set up a build tool to merge text files and run external compressors.
  • Using a build tool is a natural fit for continuous integration and one-step deploy.
  • And you can easily do static file serving from a separate cookie-less domain for maximum download speed and minimal server overhead.
  • And it will make it easy to add a CDN later on, if needed. (AFAIK Teleriks solution can link to a file already available on a CDN, but cannot minify a local file and upload it to a CDN.)

I'm particularly interested in YSlow scores (before and after) and/or compression statistics/performances.

Don't worry too much over a few percentage differences in achieved compression, or a single HTTP header that isn't strictly needed. If you just combine files where possible, minify whitespace, enable HTTP compression and set proper caching headers; then you're far ahead of the average website out there...

If you prefer to keep minification inside MVC, then it boils down to maturity of the library IMHO. I don't know which one should be the top pick right now. But have a look at IncludeCombiner too; it is part of MVCContrib now, and as such will get a good deal of exposure in the future.

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I decided to use the new version of the Web Asset Manager from the Telerik MVC Extensions, mostly because of the extra options of the newest version (eg. defining groups of assets Fluently in code or in web config). Also we already make use of telerik components and I expect and hope that a lot of these (asp.net ajax) components become "MVC friendly" in the near future and use the same Web Assets Management solution.

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