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Webpack vs Nodemon: What are the differences?
Webpack and Nodemon are essential tools in the web development ecosystem. Webpack is a module bundler that optimizes and bundles various assets for web applications, while Nodemon is a utility that automatically restarts a Node.js application when changes are detected, aiding in development. Here are the key differences between Webpack and Nodemon:
Purpose and Usage: Webpack is primarily used for bundling and optimizing various assets like JavaScript, CSS, and images, making them ready for deployment. It enables the creation of a dependency graph, code splitting, and generating optimized output bundles. Nodemon, on the other hand, is used during development to monitor changes in Node.js application files and automatically restart the server, ensuring a smoother development workflow.
Workflow Integration: Webpack is integrated into the build process of a web application and is executed when preparing the application for production. It's a one-time process that generates optimized assets. Nodemon, however, is designed for development environments. It runs alongside your Node.js application, monitoring for changes and restarting the server to reflect code modifications without manual restarts.
Development vs Production: Webpack is mainly used in the production build process to create optimized bundles that are efficient for serving to users. It optimizes assets, reduces file sizes, and handles code splitting. Nodemon is used exclusively during development to enhance the developer's experience by automatically restarting the server when code changes occur.
Configuration: Webpack configuration involves specifying entry points, loaders, plugins, and output settings to control how assets are bundled and optimized. Nodemon configuration focuses on specifying which files should be watched and which file extensions should trigger server restarts.
Use Cases: Webpack is crucial for projects that require efficient asset bundling, including modern web applications with complex dependencies. Nodemon is valuable when working on Node.js applications, ensuring that the development server remains up-to-date with code changes without manual intervention.
Dependency: Webpack doesn't have a direct dependency on Node.js; it's mainly used to bundle front-end assets. Nodemon, on the other hand, is specifically designed for Node.js applications and is installed as a development dependency.
In summary, Webpack optimizes and bundles assets for production, while Nodemon enhances the development experience by automatically restarting the server when code changes occur, improving efficiency during the development phase.
I could define the next points why we have to migrate:
- Decrease build time of our application. (It was the main cause).
- Also
jspm install
takes much more time thannpm install
. - Many config files for SystemJS and JSPM. For Webpack you can use just one main config file, and you can use some separate config files for specific builds using inheritance and merge them.
We mostly use rollup to publish package onto NPM. For most all other use cases, we use the Meteor build tool (probably 99% of the time) for publishing packages. If you're using Node on FHIR you probably won't need to know rollup, unless you are somehow working on helping us publish front end user interface components using FHIR. That being said, we have been migrating away from Atmosphere package manager towards NPM. As we continue to migrate away, we may publish other NPM packages using rollup.
Pros of nodemon
- Easy to use1
- It's lightweight1
Pros of Webpack
- Most powerful bundler309
- Built-in dev server with livereload182
- Can handle all types of assets142
- Easy configuration87
- Laravel-mix22
- Overengineered, Underdeveloped4
- Makes it easy to bundle static assets2
- Webpack-Encore2
- Redundant1
- Better support in Browser Dev-Tools1
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Cons of nodemon
Cons of Webpack
- Hard to configure15
- No clear direction5
- Spaghetti-Code out of the box2
- SystemJS integration is quite lackluster2
- Loader architecture is quite a mess (unreliable/buggy)2
- Fire and Forget mentality of Core-Developers2