How do you limit CoffeeScript (or JavaScript) execution to a particular controller and action in Rails 3.1?

Question

The new Rails 3.1 asset pipeline is really nice, but since all CoffeeScript (or JavaScript) files get melded down into a single file that is included in every page, it raise

Answer 1

Trevor Burnham answers this question nicely here: How do I associate a CoffeeScript file with a view?

He says:

There are two common approaches:

1. Make behavior conditional on the presence of a particular element. For instance, code to run a signup sheet should be prefaced with something like

   if $('#signup').length > 0

2. Make behavior conditional on a class on the body element. You can set the body class using ERB. This is often desirable for stylesheets as well. The code would be something like

   if $('body').hasClass 'user'

And if you're interested in CoffeeScript, Trevor is working on a book that looks to be very good: http://pragprog.com/titles/tbcoffee/coffeescript