webpack is a bundler for modules. The main purpose is to bundle javascript files for usage in browser.
TL;DR
- bundles CommonJs and AMD modules. (even combined)
- can create a single bundle or a bunch of chunks loaded on demand, to reduce initial loading time.
- dependencies are resolved while compiling, this makes the runtime very small
- loader can preprocess files while compiling, i. e. coffee-script to javascript
Check the documentation if you want to know more...
Take a look at the examples folder.
webpack has a rich plugin interface. Most of the features are internal plugins using this interface. This makes webpack very flexible.
webpack uses async I/O and has multiple caching levels. This makes webpack fast and incredible fast on incremental compilation.
webpack allows to use loaders to preprocess files. This allows you to bundle any static resource not only javascript. You can easily write your own loaders running in node.js.
webpack supports AMD and CommonJs module styles. It perform clever static analysis on the AST of your code. It even has a evaluation engine to evaluate simple expressions. This allows you to support most existing libraries.
webpack allows to split your codebase into chunks. Chunks are loaded on demand. This reduces initial loading time.
webpack can do many optimizations to reduce the output size. It also cares about caching by using hashes.
var commonjs = require("./commonjs");
define(["amd-module", "./file"], function(amdModule, file) {
require(["big-module/big/file"], function(big) {
// AMD require acts as split point
// and "big-module/big/file" is only downloaded when requested
var stuff = require("../my/stuff");
// dependencies automatically goes in chunk too
});
});
require("coffee!./cup.coffee");
// The loader syntax allows to proprocess files
// for common stuff you can bind RegExps to loaders
// if you also add ".coffee" to the default extensions
// you can write:
require("./cup");
function loadTemplate(name) {
return require("./templates/" + name ".jade");
// dynamic requires are supported
// while compiling we figure out what can be requested
// here everything in "./templates" that matches /^.*\.jade$/
// (can also be in subdirectories)
}
require("imports?_=underscore!../loaders/my-ejs-loader!./template.html");
// you can chain loaders
// you can configure loaders with query parameters
// and loaders resolve similar to modules
// ...you can combine everything
function loadTemplateAsync(name, callback) {
require(["bundle?lazy!./templates/" + name + ".jade"], function(templateBundle) {
templateBundle(callback);
});
}You can run the node tests with npm test.
You can run the browser tests:
cd test/browsertests
node build
and open tests.html in browser.
You are welcome to contribute by writing issues or pull requests. It would be nice if you open source your own loaders or webmodules. :)
You are also welcome to correct any spelling mistakes or any language issues, because my english is not perfect...
If you want to discus something or just need help, here is a gitter.im room.
Copyright (c) 2012-2014 Tobias Koppers
MIT (http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php)
This is a freetime project. My time investment fluctuates randomly. If you use webpack for a serious task you may want me to invest more time. Or if you make some good revenue you can give some money back. Keep in mind that this project may increase your income. It makes development and applications faster and reduce the required bandwidth.
I'm very thankful for every dollar. If you leave your username or email I may show my thanks by giving you extra support.
