Chapter 11. Building and debugging
This chapter covers
- Customizing the Meteor build process
- Debugging using the server shell and node-inspector
- Creating browser applications
- Creating mobile applications
With the rise of the smartphone, web applications no longer require a web browser because they also come as mobile applications. Meteor wouldn’t be an appropriate tool for building modern applications if it didn’t offer support for mobile platforms as well. Platforms that are capable of running Meteor applications can be the server, browser, and even mobile devices like iOS and Android.
Although there is no need to create an EXE file or application binaries, even interpreted languages like JavaScript require some source code processing before they can be run. One of the most familiar steps in building a JavaScript project is minification, which reduces source files to a minimum so that network traffic is minimized at the cost of readability.
Turning source code into runnable applications is the job of a build tool, and in Meteor it’s called Isobuild. This tool works mostly behind the scenes and allows you to focus on coding rather than setting up build chains.
In this chapter, we take a close look of two main aspects of Isobuild:
- How the Meteor build process works
- How to build apps for various platforms
Additionally, this chapter introduces debugging techniques that will allow you to get a better understanding of what happens inside the application when it’s running.