Webpack

In a React/Webpack development scenario, there are myriad options to choose from. It’s worth exploring some advanced techniques when it comes to TypeScript, CSS, web workers, and service workers.

When starting a new React project, you have many templates to choose from. These templates are able to support application development at a very large scale. But they leave the developer experience and bundle output saddled with various defaults, which may not be ideal.

Hot module replacement is one of the most useful features offered by Webpack. It allows all kinds of modules, including JSON, CSS, and JS files, to be updated at runtime without needing a full refresh.

In this article, Toptal Freelance JavaScript Developer Shaojiang Cai demonstrates how to use Hot Module Replacement in Redux.

The Webpack module bundler processes JavaScript code and all static assets, such as stylesheets, images, and fonts. However, configuring Webpack and its dependencies can be cumbersome and not always a straightforward process, especially for beginners.

In this article, Toptal Software Engineer Andrej Gajdos provides a guide with examples on how to configure Webpack for different scenarios and points out the most common pitfalls connected to project dependencies and their bundling when using Webpack.

Gone are the days where front-end developers for web applications could use ad-hoc JavaScript with jQuery and such all in a single JavaScript file. Modern web applications require more effort from the developer to adopt an overall architecture and development process. Building such front-end applications relies on lots of external dependencies and modular source code, and these elements necessitate automation to save developers time and reduce the chances of mistakes.

In this article, Toptal Freelance Software Engineer Eric Grosse shows us how various combinations of the popular tools Webpack, Browserify, Gulp and Npm can benefit us by enhancing our development environment and allowing us to focus on writing the app itself.