I have also maintained or architected two large JS applications (100k+ lines of javascript) in ExtJS, Knockout, Kendo and React and I couldn't imagine not havin

I have also maintained or architected two large JS applications (100k+ lines of javascript) in ExtJS, Knockout, Kendo and React and I couldn't imagine not having requirejs, for the benefits of enforcing modularity and sane dependency structure, just as much as the sane approach to an optimized build and the plugin system. The pain point you describe is not a pain point for my team, and even if it was a pain point, it is perfectly possible to abstract the repetition[1], which you are of course aware of since you use Angular. FWIW, we have not felt the need to have any modules with 20 includes. [1] http://www.dustingetz.com/2013/05/13/javascript-dependency-injection-angularjs-style.html http://www.dustingetz.com/2013/05/13/javascript-dependency-i...