Hard dependency (bắt buộc): Underscore.js — thư viện functional programming helpers (map, filter, reduce, template...). Backbone không chạy nếu thiếu.
Soft dependencies (tùy feature)
- jQuery / Zepto: DOM manipulation cho
Backbone.View(event delegation,$el). - json2.js: JSON parse/stringify cho IE cũ (hiện đại không cần).
- RESTful persistence:
Backbone.syncmặc định dùngjQuery.ajax— có thể override. - History/Routing:
Backbone.Router+Backbone.History(cầnpushStatesupport hoặc hash fallback).
Kiến trúc Backbone
- Model: Data + business logic + validation.
- Collection: Tập hợp Model, hỗ trợ sort/filter/event.
- View: Render UI, bind event, listen model change.
- Router: Client-side routing (hash/history).
- Events: Mixin event system (on/off/trigger).
Backbone nhẹ (~7KB gzipped), unopinionated, phù hợp app trung bình.