Chapter 4. Front-end build systems
This chapter covers
- Simplifying complex commands with npm scripts
- Using Gulp to manage repetitive tasks
- Bundling client-side web apps with webpack
In modern web development, Node is increasingly used to run tools and services depended on by front-end engineers. As a Node programmer, you may be responsible for setting up and maintaining these tools. As a full-stack developer, you’ll want to use these tools to create faster and more reliable web applications. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to use npm scripts, Gulp, and webpack to build maintainable projects.
The benefits of using front-end build systems can be huge. They can help you to write more readable and future-proof code. There’s no need to worry about ES2015 browser support when you can transpile it with Babel. Also, because you can generate source maps, browser-based debugging is still possible.
The next section provides a brief introduction to front-end development with Node. After that, you’ll see some examples of modern front-end technologies such as React that you can use with your own projects.