How to setup Webpack +2.0 from scratch in 2017

If you’re feeling intimidated by Webpack, don’t worry; you’re not alone. Webpack is intimidating.

What exactly is a proxyTable, anyway? Why do we need so many files just to compile our code? Don’t worry—we’ll start from the very beginning.

Webpack is the next step in the evolution of front-end tooling. First, there was Grunt, then came Gulp, and now we have Webpack.

When you have a more complex and resource-heavy project, Webpack is definitely the way to go. For example, you might need to compile JavaScript, SCSS, import files, hot-reload without affecting the current state, bundle production builds, and more.

Webpack to the Rescue

If you want to become a well-rounded frontend engineer, knowing Webpack is essential. I’ll try to make this as easy as possible.

Let’s Get Started!

Things You’ll Need:

• Basic knowledge of Node.js
• NPM (Node Package Manager)
• Basic command line/terminal skills
• A text editor (any will do)
• A Unix-like operating system (Mac or Linux)
• Install Node.js

Setting Up Webpack

With Node.js and NPM installed, we’re ready to set up Webpack. Start by creating a new project folder and navigate to it in your terminal. Initialize a new Node.js project with:

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npm init -y

This will create a package.json file, which is the basic configuration file for your project.

Now, let’s create the necessary files: index.html, webpack.config.js, and index.js. Your project structure should look something like this:

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my-project/
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├── index.html
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├── webpack.config.js
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└── index.js

Install Webpack Dependencies

We need to install Webpack and Webpack Dev Server, which will serve our files via HTTP.

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npm install --save-dev webpack webpack-dev-server

Configuring Webpack

Open webpack.config.js and start by requiring Webpack:

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const path = require('path');
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module.exports = {
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  entry: './index.js',
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  output: {
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    filename: 'bundle.js',
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    path: path.resolve(__dirname, 'dist'),
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  },
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  mode: 'development',
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};

This basic configuration tells Webpack where to find the entry file (index.js) and where to output the bundled file (bundle.js).

Connecting Webpack to HTML

In index.html, include the bundled JavaScript file by adding a <script> tag:

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<script src="bundle.js" />

Running Webpack

Before you can run Webpack, install it globally:

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npm install -g webpack webpack-cli

Now, you can run Webpack with:

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webpack

Webpack will generate a bundle.js file in the dist directory. Open index.html in your browser, and you’ll see the result of your first Webpack project.

How Do We Watch for Changes?

Currently, we have to manually re-run the compile task every time we make a change. That’s tedious and time-consuming. Luckily, there’s an easy fix!

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webpack --watch

This command will automatically recompile your project whenever changes are detected, saving you time and effort.