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Back End Apps with Webpack: Part I

jlongster.com

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Re: Back End Apps with Webpack: Part I

#11

Post by latchkey »

untog wrote: post #10
latchkey wrote: post #9

Webpack is pretty nice, but it feels so 2014. In 2015, we have ES6 modules now. Instead of define/require, we have import/export and it is standards based now, which is nice. For systems that do not support ES6 syntax directly, this is provided today with tools like SystemJS [1] and jspm [2]. SystemJS is great because it supports all of the module formats for backwards compatibility. jspm is great because it doesn't…

In 2015, we have ES6 modules now. Instead of define/require, we have import/export and it is standards based now, which is nice. Wouldn't using something like Babel remove that issue?

Yup, babel does it too. http://babeljs.io/docs/usage/modules/

The problem is supporting dependencies. You need something that can load everything, which is the functionality that SystemJS provides.

Re: Back End Apps with Webpack: Part I

#12

Post by jlongster »

latchkey wrote: post #9

Webpack is pretty nice, but it feels so 2014. In 2015, we have ES6 modules now. Instead of define/require, we have import/export and it is standards based now, which is nice. For systems that do not support ES6 syntax directly, this is provided today with tools like SystemJS [1] and jspm [2]. SystemJS is great because it supports all of the module formats for backwards compatibility. jspm is great because it doesn't…

The syntax for specifying dependencies is irrelevant -- webpack aims to support all of them, and as far as I know has experimental ES6 import/export support. I'm definitely going to transition to ES6 modules soon.

The infrastructure is the important piece, not the module syntax. Webpack provides this infrastructure, and it's easy to provide it for ES6 modules as well.

For example: how do I hot reload modules? How do I eval code inside a module? Webpack allows you to do all of this, and is more advanced than anything out there. SystemJS and jspm are nice but I still find webpack to support way more features.

What do you mean "hacked together"? Look at how small my config is! Do you know how much you get from that small config? The only thing hacky is the `node_modules` hack, and as far as I know, you'd have to do something similar with anything else (I don't see anyone using SystemJS/jspm on the backend).

Also, re-transpiling files that change? Just fire up the watcher (`webpack --watch`) and webpack automatically does this...

Re: Back End Apps with Webpack: Part I

#13

Post by [deleted] »

latchkey wrote: post #9

Webpack is pretty nice, but it feels so 2014. In 2015, we have ES6 modules now. Instead of define/require, we have import/export and it is standards based now, which is nice. For systems that do not support ES6 syntax directly, this is provided today with tools like SystemJS [1] and jspm [2]. SystemJS is great because it supports all of the module formats for backwards compatibility. jspm is great because it doesn't…

[deleted]

Re: Back End Apps with Webpack: Part I

#14

Post by Touche »

jlongster wrote: post #12
latchkey wrote: post #9

Webpack is pretty nice, but it feels so 2014. In 2015, we have ES6 modules now. Instead of define/require, we have import/export and it is standards based now, which is nice. For systems that do not support ES6 syntax directly, this is provided today with tools like SystemJS [1] and jspm [2]. SystemJS is great because it supports all of the module formats for backwards compatibility. jspm is great because it doesn't…

The syntax for specifying dependencies is irrelevant -- webpack aims to support all of them, and as far as I know has experimental ES6 import/export support. I'm definitely going to transition to ES6 modules soon. The infrastructure is the important piece, not the module syntax. Webpack provides this infrastructure, and it's easy to provide it for ES6 modules as well. For example: how do I hot reload modules? How do…

> The infrastructure is the important piece, not the module syntax.

That's what makes SystemJS appealing; the infrastructure is the ES6 (now WhatWG) Loader Specification; a spec that browsers will be implementing. So you don't have to worry about learning yet-another-module-loader like you do when jumping from requirejs -> browserify -> webpack -> whatever's next trends.

Re: Back End Apps with Webpack: Part I

#15

Post by latchkey »

jlongster wrote: post #12
latchkey wrote: post #9

Webpack is pretty nice, but it feels so 2014. In 2015, we have ES6 modules now. Instead of define/require, we have import/export and it is standards based now, which is nice. For systems that do not support ES6 syntax directly, this is provided today with tools like SystemJS [1] and jspm [2]. SystemJS is great because it supports all of the module formats for backwards compatibility. jspm is great because it doesn't…

The syntax for specifying dependencies is irrelevant -- webpack aims to support all of them, and as far as I know has experimental ES6 import/export support. I'm definitely going to transition to ES6 modules soon. The infrastructure is the important piece, not the module syntax. Webpack provides this infrastructure, and it's easy to provide it for ES6 modules as well. For example: how do I hot reload modules? How do…

I know your blog post is only part 1, but your example doesn't show hot module reloading. Adding that will complicate your build file even more.

Re: Back End Apps with Webpack: Part I

#16

Post by jlongster »

latchkey wrote: post #15
jlongster wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The syntax for specifying dependencies is irrelevant -- webpack aims to support all of them, and as far as I know has experimental ES6 import/export support. I'm definitely going to transition to ES6 modules soon. The infrastructure is the important piece, not the module syntax. Webpack provides this infrastructure, and it's easy to provide it for ES6 modules as well. For example: how do I hot reload modules? How do…

I know your blog post is only part 1, but your example doesn't show hot module reloading. Adding that will complicate your build file even more.

I don't know what you are complaining about. Build systems are complex. These config files are relatively straight-forward. You tell it where to start, where to output, to use sourcemaps, and give it a few plugins. It can't get much simpler.

For hot module replacement, sure, it gets a little more complex. You add another plugin and another entry point, that's all.

Re: Back End Apps with Webpack: Part I

#20

Post by dmnd »

latchkey wrote: post #9

Webpack is pretty nice, but it feels so 2014. In 2015, we have ES6 modules now. Instead of define/require, we have import/export and it is standards based now, which is nice. For systems that do not support ES6 syntax directly, this is provided today with tools like SystemJS [1] and jspm [2]. SystemJS is great because it supports all of the module formats for backwards compatibility. jspm is great because it doesn't…

> Webpack is pretty nice, but it feels so 2014.

posted March 16, 2015.

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