[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #59076: Proposal for removing the version numbers of the JS and CSS files when SCRIPT_DEBUG is set to true

[WordPress Trac]

#59076: Proposal for removing the version numbers of the JS and CSS files when
SCRIPT_DEBUG is set to true
---------------------------+------------------------------
 Reporter:  rajinsharwar   |       Owner:  (none)
     Type:  enhancement    |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal         |   Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Script Loader  |     Version:
 Severity:  normal         |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  close          |     Focuses:
---------------------------+------------------------------
Changes (by jonsurrell):

 * keywords:   => close


Comment:

 I just want to clarify, you propose removing the `?ver=XYZ` query string
 be removed from scripts and styles, correct?

 - Current: `/wp-includes/js/dist/script-modules/block-
 library/navigation/view.min.js?ver=61572d447d60c0aa5240`
 - Proposed: `/wp-includes/js/dist/script-modules/block-
 library/navigation/view.min.js`

 On the surface that seems like a good idea, but often these resources are
 cached and —''especially'' for development— it's undesirable to get a
 cached version that's stale.

 I think that's the root of the issue here, that cached resources may be
 served. The way that WordPress deals with that is to add the version query
 as a cache-buster.

 The way that's often handled right now is to use `filemtime` as a version,
 [https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-
 develop/blob/fc78e1903cff25767d15d0fb67fba7d3e368ed50/src/wp-
 includes/blocks.php#L332 like Core does here]:

 {{{#!php
 <?php
 $version = defined( 'SCRIPT_DEBUG' ) && SCRIPT_DEBUG ? filemtime( $path )
 : 'stable-version-number';
 }}}

 The current strategy seems to work well, I don't think that should be
 changed. Maybe there are opportunities for quality-of-life improvements
 like automatically setting a `filemtime`-based version number when in
 script_debug mode. However, that presents some difficulties because the
 path to the file on disk is not always easy to determine and could be
 impossible, perhaps the script/style is remote on not on disk. This type
 of change would require a compelling proposal that overcomes potentially
 difficult technical challenges.

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/59076#comment:2>
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