diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 646ac519e..d7dcaedfe 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 .DS_Store
-node_modules/
+dist/
+node_modules/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/build.js b/build.js
index f9b478616..c35ffb46c 100755
--- a/build.js
+++ b/build.js
@@ -2,286 +2,23 @@
 ;(function() {
   'use strict';
 
-  /** The Node filesystem, path, `zlib`, and child process modules */
+  /** The Node filesystem and path modules */
   var fs = require('fs'),
-      gzip = require('zlib').gzip,
-      path = require('path'),
-      spawn = require('child_process').spawn;
+      path = require('path');
 
   /** The build directory containing the build scripts */
   var buildPath = path.join(__dirname, 'build');
 
-  /** The directory where the Closure Compiler is located */
-  var closurePath = path.join(__dirname, 'vendor', 'closure-compiler', 'compiler.jar');
+  /** The minify module */
+  var Minify = require(path.join(buildPath, 'minify'));
 
-  /** The distribution directory */
-  var distPath = path.join(__dirname, 'dist');
-
-  /** Load other modules */
-  var preprocess = require(path.join(buildPath, 'pre-compile')),
-      postprocess = require(path.join(buildPath, 'post-compile')),
-      uglifyJS = require(path.join(__dirname, 'vendor', 'uglifyjs', 'uglify-js'));
-
-  /** Used to shares values between multiple callbacks */
-  var accumulator = {
-    'compiled': {},
-    'hybrid': {},
-    'uglified': {}
-  };
-
-  /** Closure Compiler command-line options */
-  var closureOptions = [
-    '--compilation_level=ADVANCED_OPTIMIZATIONS',
-    '--language_in=ECMASCRIPT5_STRICT',
-    '--warning_level=QUIET'
-  ];
-
-  /** The pre-processed Lo-Dash source */
-  var source = preprocess(fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, 'lodash.js'), 'utf8'));
+  /** The lodash.js source */
+  var source = fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, 'lodash.js'), 'utf8');
 
   /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
 
-  /**
-   * Compresses a `source` string using the Closure Compiler. Yields the
-   * minified result, and any exceptions encountered, to a `callback` function.
-   *
-   * @private
-   * @param {String} source The JavaScript source to minify.
-   * @param {String} [message] The message to log.
-   * @param {Function} callback The function to call once the process completes.
-   */
-  function closureCompile(source, message, callback) {
-    // the standard error stream, standard output stream, and Closure Compiler process
-    var error = '',
-        output = '',
-        compiler = spawn('java', ['-jar', closurePath].concat(closureOptions));
-
-    // juggle arguments
-    if (typeof message == 'function') {
-      callback = message;
-      message = null;
-    }
-
-    console.log(message == null ? 'Compressing lodash.js using the Closure Compiler...' : message);
-
-    compiler.stdout.on('data', function(data) {
-      // append the data to the output stream
-      output += data;
-    });
-
-    compiler.stderr.on('data', function(data) {
-      // append the error message to the error stream
-      error += data;
-    });
-
-    compiler.on('exit', function(status) {
-      var exception = null;
-
-      // `status` contains the process exit code
-      if (status) {
-        exception = new Error(error);
-        exception.status = status;
-      }
-      callback(exception, output);
-    });
-
-    // proxy the standard input to the Closure Compiler
-    compiler.stdin.end(source);
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * Compresses a `source` string using UglifyJS. Yields the result to a
-   * `callback` function. This function is synchronous; the `callback` is used
-   * for symmetry.
-   *
-   * @private
-   * @param {String} source The JavaScript source to minify.
-   * @param {String} [message] The message to log.
-   * @param {Function} callback The function to call once the process completes.
-   */
-  function uglify(source, message, callback) {
-    var exception,
-        result,
-        ugly = uglifyJS.uglify;
-
-    // juggle arguments
-    if (typeof message == 'function') {
-      callback = message;
-      message = null;
-    }
-
-    console.log(message == null ? 'Compressing lodash.js using UglifyJS...' : message);
-
-    try {
-      result = ugly.gen_code(
-        // enable unsafe transformations
-        ugly.ast_squeeze_more(
-          ugly.ast_squeeze(
-            // munge variable and function names, excluding the special `define`
-            // function exposed by AMD loaders
-            ugly.ast_mangle(uglifyJS.parser.parse(source), {
-              'except': ['define']
-            }
-        ))), {
-        'ascii_only': true
-      });
-    } catch(e) {
-      exception = e;
-    }
-    // lines are restricted to 500 characters for consistency with the Closure Compiler
-    callback(exception, result && ugly.split_lines(result, 500));
-  }
-
-  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
-
-  /**
-   * The `closureCompile()` callback.
-   *
-   * @private
-   * @param {Object|Undefined} exception The error object.
-   * @param {String} result The resulting minified source.
-   */
-  function onClosureCompile(exception, result) {
-    if (exception) {
-      throw exception;
-    }
-    // store the post-processed Closure Compiler result and gzip it
-    accumulator.compiled.source = result = postprocess(result);
-    gzip(result, onClosureGzip);
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * The Closure Compiler `gzip` callback.
-   *
-   * @private
-   * @param {Object|Undefined} exception The error object.
-   * @param {Buffer} result The resulting gzipped source.
-   */
-  function onClosureGzip(exception, result) {
-    if (exception) {
-      throw exception;
-    }
-    // store the gzipped result and report the size
-    accumulator.compiled.gzip = result;
-    console.log('Done. Size: %d KB.', result.length);
-
-    // next, minify the source using only UglifyJS
-    uglify(source, onUglify);
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * The `uglify()` callback.
-   *
-   * @private
-   * @param {Object|Undefined} exception The error object.
-   * @param {String} result The resulting minified source.
-   */
-  function onUglify(exception, result) {
-    if (exception) {
-      throw exception;
-    }
-    // store the post-processed Uglified result and gzip it
-    accumulator.uglified.source = result = postprocess(result);
-    gzip(result, onUglifyGzip);
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * The UglifyJS `gzip` callback.
-   *
-   * @private
-   * @param {Object|Undefined} exception The error object.
-   * @param {Buffer} result The resulting gzipped source.
-   */
-  function onUglifyGzip(exception, result) {
-    if (exception) {
-      throw exception;
-    }
-    var message = 'Compressing lodash.js combining Closure Compiler and UglifyJS...';
-
-    // store the gzipped result and report the size
-    accumulator.uglified.gzip = result;
-    console.log('Done. Size: %d KB.', result.length);
-
-    // next, minify the Closure Compiler minified source using UglifyJS
-    uglify(accumulator.compiled.source, message, onHybrid);
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * The hybrid `uglify()` callback.
-   *
-   * @private
-   * @param {Object|Undefined} exception The error object.
-   * @param {String} result The resulting minified source.
-   */
-  function onHybrid(exception, result) {
-    if (exception) {
-      throw exception;
-    }
-    // store the post-processed Uglified result and gzip it
-    accumulator.hybrid.source = result = postprocess(result);
-    gzip(result, onHybridGzip);
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * The hybrid `gzip` callback.
-   *
-   * @private
-   * @param {Object|Undefined} exception The error object.
-   * @param {Buffer} result The resulting gzipped source.
-   */
-  function onHybridGzip(exception, result) {
-    if (exception) {
-      throw exception;
-    }
-    // store the gzipped result and report the size
-    accumulator.hybrid.gzip = result;
-    console.log('Done. Size: %d KB.', result.length);
-
-    // finish by choosing the smallest compressed file
-    onComplete();
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * The callback executed after JavaScript source is minified and gzipped.
-   *
-   * @private
-   */
-  function onComplete() {
-    var compiled = accumulator.compiled,
-        hybrid = accumulator.hybrid,
-        uglified = accumulator.uglified;
-
-    // save the Closure Compiled version to disk
-    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(distPath, 'lodash.compiler.js'), compiled.source);
-    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(distPath, 'lodash.compiler.js.gz'), compiled.gzip);
-
-    // save the Uglified version to disk
-    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(distPath, 'lodash.uglify.js'), uglified.source);
-    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(distPath, 'lodash.uglify.js.gz'), uglified.gzip);
-
-    // save the hybrid minified version to disk
-    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(distPath, 'lodash.hybrid.js'), hybrid.source);
-    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(distPath, 'lodash.hybrid.js.gz'), hybrid.gzip);
-
-    // select the smallest gzipped file and use its minified counterpart as the
-    // official minified release (ties go to Closure Compiler)
-    var min = Math.min(compiled.gzip.length, hybrid.gzip.length, uglified.gzip.length);
-
-    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(__dirname, 'lodash.min.js'),
-      compiled.gzip.length == min
-        ? compiled.source
-        : uglified.gzip.length == min
-          ? uglified.source
-          : hybrid.source
-    );
-  }
-
-  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
-
-  // create the destination directory if it doesn't exist
-  if (!path.existsSync(distPath)) {
-    fs.mkdirSync(distPath);
-  }
   // begin the minification process
-  closureCompile(source, onClosureCompile);
+  new Minify(source, 'lodash.min', function(result) {
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(__dirname, 'lodash.min.js'), result);
+  });
 }());
diff --git a/build/minify.js b/build/minify.js
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..356808148
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build/minify.js
@@ -0,0 +1,327 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+;(function() {
+  'use strict';
+
+  /** The Node filesystem, path, `zlib`, and child process modules */
+  var fs = require('fs'),
+      gzip = require('zlib').gzip,
+      path = require('path'),
+      spawn = require('child_process').spawn;
+
+  /** The directory that is the base of the repository */
+  var basePath = path.join(__dirname, '../');
+
+  /** The directory where the Closure Compiler is located */
+  var closurePath = path.join(basePath, 'vendor', 'closure-compiler', 'compiler.jar');
+
+  /** The distribution directory */
+  var distPath = path.join(basePath, 'dist');
+
+  /** Load other modules */
+  var preprocess = require(path.join(__dirname, 'pre-compile')),
+      postprocess = require(path.join(__dirname, 'post-compile')),
+      uglifyJS = require(path.join(basePath, 'vendor', 'uglifyjs', 'uglify-js'));
+
+  /** Closure Compiler command-line options */
+  var closureOptions = [
+    '--compilation_level=ADVANCED_OPTIMIZATIONS',
+    '--language_in=ECMASCRIPT5_STRICT',
+    '--warning_level=QUIET'
+  ];
+
+  /** Used to match the file extension of a file path */
+  var reExtension = /\.[^.]+$/;
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+  /**
+   * Minify a given JavaScript `source`.
+   *
+   * @param {String} source The source to minify.
+   * @param {String} workingName The name to give temporary files creates during the minification process.
+   * @param {Function} onComplete A function called when minification has completed.
+   */
+  function Minify(source, workingName, onComplete) {
+    // create the destination directory if it doesn't exist
+    if (!path.existsSync(distPath)) {
+      fs.mkdirSync(distPath);
+    }
+
+    this.compiled = {};
+    this.hybrid = {};
+    this.uglified = {};
+    this.onComplete = onComplete;
+    this.source = source = preprocess(source);
+    this.workingName = workingName;
+
+    // begin the minification process
+    closureCompile.call(this, source, onClosureCompile.bind(this));
+  }
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+  /**
+   * Compresses a `source` string using the Closure Compiler. Yields the
+   * minified result, and any exceptions encountered, to a `callback` function.
+   *
+   * @private
+   * @param {String} source The JavaScript source to minify.
+   * @param {String} [message] The message to log.
+   * @param {Function} callback The function to call once the process completes.
+   */
+  function closureCompile(source, message, callback) {
+    // the standard error stream, standard output stream, and Closure Compiler process
+    var error = '',
+        output = '',
+        compiler = spawn('java', ['-jar', closurePath].concat(closureOptions));
+
+    // juggle arguments
+    if (typeof message == 'function') {
+      callback = message;
+      message = null;
+    }
+
+    console.log(message == null
+      ? 'Compressing ' + this.workingName + ' using the Closure Compiler...'
+      : message
+    );
+
+    compiler.stdout.on('data', function(data) {
+      // append the data to the output stream
+      output += data;
+    });
+
+    compiler.stderr.on('data', function(data) {
+      // append the error message to the error stream
+      error += data;
+    });
+
+    compiler.on('exit', function(status) {
+      var exception = null;
+
+      // `status` contains the process exit code
+      if (status) {
+        exception = new Error(error);
+        exception.status = status;
+      }
+      callback(exception, output);
+    });
+
+    // proxy the standard input to the Closure Compiler
+    compiler.stdin.end(source);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Compresses a `source` string using UglifyJS. Yields the result to a
+   * `callback` function. This function is synchronous; the `callback` is used
+   * for symmetry.
+   *
+   * @private
+   * @param {String} source The JavaScript source to minify.
+   * @param {String} [message] The message to log.
+   * @param {Function} callback The function to call once the process completes.
+   */
+  function uglify(source, message, callback) {
+    var exception,
+        result,
+        ugly = uglifyJS.uglify;
+
+    // juggle arguments
+    if (typeof message == 'function') {
+      callback = message;
+      message = null;
+    }
+
+    console.log(message == null
+      ? 'Compressing ' + this.workingName + ' using UglifyJS...'
+      : message
+    );
+
+    try {
+      result = ugly.gen_code(
+        // enable unsafe transformations
+        ugly.ast_squeeze_more(
+          ugly.ast_squeeze(
+            // munge variable and function names, excluding the special `define`
+            // function exposed by AMD loaders
+            ugly.ast_mangle(uglifyJS.parser.parse(source), {
+              'except': ['define']
+            }
+        ))), {
+        'ascii_only': true
+      });
+    } catch(e) {
+      exception = e;
+    }
+    // lines are restricted to 500 characters for consistency with the Closure Compiler
+    callback(exception, result && ugly.split_lines(result, 500));
+  }
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+  /**
+   * The `closureCompile()` callback.
+   *
+   * @private
+   * @param {Object|Undefined} exception The error object.
+   * @param {String} result The resulting minified source.
+   */
+  function onClosureCompile(exception, result) {
+    if (exception) {
+      throw exception;
+    }
+    // store the post-processed Closure Compiler result and gzip it
+    this.compiled.source = result = postprocess(result);
+    gzip(result, onClosureGzip.bind(this));
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * The Closure Compiler `gzip` callback.
+   *
+   * @private
+   * @param {Object|Undefined} exception The error object.
+   * @param {Buffer} result The resulting gzipped source.
+   */
+  function onClosureGzip(exception, result) {
+    if (exception) {
+      throw exception;
+    }
+    // store the gzipped result and report the size
+    this.compiled.gzip = result;
+    console.log('Done. Size: %d KB.', result.length);
+
+    // next, minify the source using only UglifyJS
+    uglify.call(this, this.source, onUglify.bind(this));
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * The `uglify()` callback.
+   *
+   * @private
+   * @param {Object|Undefined} exception The error object.
+   * @param {String} result The resulting minified source.
+   */
+  function onUglify(exception, result) {
+    if (exception) {
+      throw exception;
+    }
+    // store the post-processed Uglified result and gzip it
+    this.uglified.source = result = postprocess(result);
+    gzip(result, onUglifyGzip.bind(this));
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * The UglifyJS `gzip` callback.
+   *
+   * @private
+   * @param {Object|Undefined} exception The error object.
+   * @param {Buffer} result The resulting gzipped source.
+   */
+  function onUglifyGzip(exception, result) {
+    if (exception) {
+      throw exception;
+    }
+    var message = 'Compressing  ' + this.workingName + ' using hybrid minification...';
+
+    // store the gzipped result and report the size
+    this.uglified.gzip = result;
+    console.log('Done. Size: %d KB.', result.length);
+
+    // next, minify the Closure Compiler minified source using UglifyJS
+    uglify.call(this, this.compiled.source, message, onHybrid.bind(this));
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * The hybrid `uglify()` callback.
+   *
+   * @private
+   * @param {Object|Undefined} exception The error object.
+   * @param {String} result The resulting minified source.
+   */
+  function onHybrid(exception, result) {
+    if (exception) {
+      throw exception;
+    }
+    // store the post-processed Uglified result and gzip it
+    this.hybrid.source = result = postprocess(result);
+    gzip(result, onHybridGzip.bind(this));
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * The hybrid `gzip` callback.
+   *
+   * @private
+   * @param {Object|Undefined} exception The error object.
+   * @param {Buffer} result The resulting gzipped source.
+   */
+  function onHybridGzip(exception, result) {
+    if (exception) {
+      throw exception;
+    }
+    // store the gzipped result and report the size
+    this.hybrid.gzip = result;
+    console.log('Done. Size: %d KB.', result.length);
+
+    // finish by choosing the smallest compressed file
+    onComplete.call(this);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * The callback executed after JavaScript source is minified and gzipped.
+   *
+   * @private
+   */
+  function onComplete() {
+    var compiled = this.compiled,
+        hybrid = this.hybrid,
+        name = this.workingName,
+        uglified = this.uglified;
+
+    // save the Closure Compiled version to disk
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(distPath, name + '.compiler.js'), compiled.source);
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(distPath, name + '.compiler.js.gz'), compiled.gzip);
+
+    // save the Uglified version to disk
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(distPath, name + '.uglify.js'), uglified.source);
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(distPath, name + '.uglify.js.gz'), uglified.gzip);
+
+    // save the hybrid minified version to disk
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(distPath, name + '.hybrid.js'), hybrid.source);
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(distPath, name + '.hybrid.js.gz'), hybrid.gzip);
+
+    // select the smallest gzipped file and use its minified counterpart as the
+    // official minified release (ties go to Closure Compiler)
+    var min = Math.min(compiled.gzip.length, hybrid.gzip.length, uglified.gzip.length);
+
+    // pass the minified source to the minify instances "onComplete" callback
+    this.onComplete(
+      compiled.gzip.length == min
+        ? compiled.source
+        : uglified.gzip.length == min
+          ? uglified.source
+          : hybrid.source
+    );
+  }
+
+  /*--------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+  // expose `Minify`
+  if (module != require.main) {
+    module.exports = Minify;
+  }
+  else {
+    // read the JavaScript source file from the first argument if the script
+    // was invoked directly (e.g. `node minify.js source.js`) and write to
+    // the same file
+    (function() {
+      var filePath = process.argv[2],
+          dirPath = path.dirname(filePath),
+          source = fs.readFileSync(filePath, 'utf8'),
+          workingName = path.basename(filePath, '.js') + '.min';
+
+      new Minify(source, workingName, function(result) {
+        fs.writeFileSync(path.join(dirPath, workingName + '.js'));
+      });
+    }());
+  }
+}());
diff --git a/build/pre-compile.js b/build/pre-compile.js
index 43f18ddd7..755919f08 100644
--- a/build/pre-compile.js
+++ b/build/pre-compile.js
@@ -105,7 +105,6 @@
   /**
    * Pre-process a given JavaScript `source`, preparing it for minification.
    *
-   * @private
    * @param {String} source The source to process.
    * @returns {String} Returns the processed source.
    */
@@ -130,7 +129,7 @@
     // minify `_.sortBy` internal properties
     (function() {
       var properties = ['criteria', 'value'],
-          snippet = source.match(RegExp('( +)function sortBy[\\s\\S]+?\\n\\1}'))[0],
+          snippet = source.match(/( +)function sortBy[\s\S]+?\n\1}/)[0],
           result = snippet;
 
       // minify property strings