Solution 2: FauxtonAPI functions

gistfile1.js

var registeredComponents = {};

// registers a new component. Requires the component name to be unique
FauxtonAPI.registerComponent = function (name, component) {
  if (_.has(registeredComponents, name)) {
    console.error("Error: a component with the name " + name + " has already been registered.");
    return;
  }
  registeredComponents[name] = component;
};

// will return undefined if not found
FauxtonAPI.getComponent = function (name) {
  return registeredComponents[name];
};

// overwrites the component in memory. N.B. I'll probably tweak this function a little to allow overriding a 
// component *before* it's been loaded. I can well imagine a scenario where the dash code loads prior to Fauxton, 
// so it may take a little juggling of this and the registerComponent method above to get it right (e.g. suppressing
// errors on registerComponent())
FauxtonAPI.updateComponent = function (name, component) {
  registeredComponents[name] = component;
};