Learn webpack

A handbook for webpack beginners

Setting up an app with webpack shouldn't be this complex

The heart of webpack — the webpack.config.js — has a syntax that probably makes sense for hackers on the internals of webpack. But for devs just wanting to create a new project, it's a nightmare to write.

You see keywords like module, rules, use, entry, plugins. But what does that all even mean in the context of a build setup for a web app?

You stumble around with webpack, browsing the docs, tutorials, blogs, YouTube and Stack Overflow to try to make sense of it all. And you're really struggling.

The problem is that every tutorial has its own creative way of configuring webpack.

One tutorial tells you to use the html-webpack-plugin (whatever that is?) and another tutorial doesn't mention that at all.

One tutorial uses babel-preset-env and another uses something else.

There just doesn't seem to be one standard way of implementing anything with webpack. This makes it very difficult to know what is the best practice way to configure it.

You know that webpack is a really powerful tool, it's just so time consuming to figure out how it works.

When you know webpack on a deeper level a new world in frontend ecosystem opens up for you:

➡️ You'll know how create-react-app, Gatsby, Next.js, etc work under the hood

Make sense of the ejected create-react-app webpack config. Know how to extend it and adjust it to your needs. Extend Gatsby in gatby-node.js with ease.

➡️ Master the webpack config. Know how it works without having to google everything

And in those cases when you get stuck, you know what to google for and interpret the result. You are able to not only read and understand the webpack docs but you'll enjoy it.

➡️ Become a better dev to get better chances of getting the job you want

Stand out from other devs on the team and be the go-to guy when it comes to setting up new frontend apps. Raise your overall knowledge level. Apply for senior engineers roles that expect deep webpack knowledge.

Learn webpack from the ground up with "Learn webpack ebook"

Learn webpack is an e-book designed to make the process of learning webpack as quick and smooth as possible for you.

To deeply learn webpack, you’ll start with a clean slate. No more copy-pasting boilerplates and ejecting CRA to try to figure out things backward. You’ll start with an empty editor and you'll write the whole webpack.config.js yourself.

You will learn step-by-step how to build the webpack.config.js, package.json, .babelrc and all other files required to build a modern web app with webpack. This approach makes webpack super easy to learn.

But it’s not enough just to learn the syntax. You’ll learn all about the dependencies like Babel, webpack-dev-server, and React hot loader. You learn what they do and why you need them. This way you can use the dependencies to your advantage, to make your app fast and beautiful for your users.

You’ll also learn how to squeeze out every juice of webpack to make your app as fast as possible by using advanced techniques such as code splitting and tree shaking.

This is a complete and up-to-date book for webpack beginners. It covers the latest stable version of webpack which is version 5.

What does the book cover?

This book is a handbook for creating enterprise-ready production apps with webpack. These are the main topics covered:

• Why do you need webpack?
• Getting started tutorial
• What happens under-the-hood? A deep dive into loaders, plugins, manifests, etc.
• An introduction to NPM and package.json
• How to configure separate prod and test configs
• More than one output for SSR and public/admin sites
• Create an awesome dev experience
• Optimized production builds to get a small bundle size
• Code splitting to make faster apps
• Caching for quicker load speeds
• What is tree shaking and how to use it to create fast apps
• How to enable source maps for better debugging experience
• A bunch of recipes for React, Vue, Typescript, etc

The book is made up of three parts:

Part 1: The Getting started tutorial You'll jump straight into coding your first React app with webpack. You start from scratch and you will finish up with a complete webpack project that you can put in production. This tutorial is designed to get you up and running quickly.

Part 2: Production-ready apps with webpack You’ll learn how to configure an awesome developer experience that makes you super productive and use tools and techniques to get the lowest possible bundle size for the production build. You’ll also learn about the internals of webpack. Loaders, plugins, manifests and chunks will no longer feel like magic

Part 3: Recipes Even the webpack pros have to look up how to configure specific things like Vue, React, Typescript, etc. In this part of the book, you will have recipes that you can use to create the app you want to create - so you don't have read long and outdated medium-articles to get the code you need.

Zero fluff guaranteed

This is a short book - only 100 pages. It's to the point. And it has absolutely zero fluff - just actionable advice.

Buy Learn webpack

As a developer, the best investment you can make is to invest in your skills. When you know webpack you will be a more complete frontend dev. It will set you up for getting promotions.

And if you're looking for a job, talking fluently in interviews about how to use code splitting and tree shaking with webpack will make you stand out from other frontend devs.

Book details

It's time for you to take back control of your webpack config!

Still not convinced?

About the author

FAQ

Q: What if I don't like the book?

A: I offer a 30-day no-questions-asked money-back guarantee

Q: What version of webpack do the book use?

A: It's written for the latest version of webpack: webpack 5.

Q: But soon there will be a new version of webpack and this book will be outdated?

A: Included in the price is a lifetime of updates! Whenever I update the book because there is a new version of webpack or if I extend the book with new material, you will get the update straight in your inbox with no additional cost.

Q: What formats do I get?

A: You'll get PDF and EPUB. If I sometime in the future offer more formats, you will get them also of course.

Q: How many pages is it?

A: 100 pages. It's short and sweet so that you'll actually read it.