It is important we understand clearly how a Durandal application works. This is a schema of how your application starts:
The
index.htmlpage uses RequireJS to request themain.jsfile.The
main.jsfile configures require and defines the main module, which is responsible for the application configuration, and launches the shell module.The shell module handles the global context of the application. It manages components that will be persistent along the different life cycles. In the starter kit application, it manages the search bar. But it can also manage the log in and log out functionality, for example. The shell module is what configures all routes.
Finally, the router configures the navigation along all the pages the application has.
Durandal initialization life cycle