Welcome to step by step hands-on guide to setup webpack in your upcoming typescript project. Please follow the steps and you should be able to create your own webpack project. Please download the source code from github.
You will learn below things:
- ✅Create a Typescript node.js project.
- ✅Install Dependencies with webpack & typescripts.
- ✅Use Webpack CLI to crate
webpack.config.jsfile and modify webpack.config.js based on our need. - ✅Add Build script in package.json At this point you should see the dist folder created with bundle file.
- ✅Create TypeDefinition Bundle.
- ✅Clean up dist folder before create bundle.
- ✅Copy your library
package.jsonto your dist folder. - ✅Creating Typescript documentation of your project
Table of Contents
- Setting up Webpack for any Typescript project from Scratch
Run below script to create default node.js project.
npm init --y
Run below script to get all of the dependencies
npm i -D wepack-cli webpack typescript ts-loader declaration-bundler-webpack-plugin copy-webpack-plugin clean-webpack-plugin @types/node @types/webpack
package.json looks like this:
{
"name": "@scci-questions/itemslibrary-contracts-app",
"version": "1.0.0",
"description": "",
"main": "index.js",
"scripts": {},
"keywords": [],
"author": "",
"license": "ISC",
"devDependencies": {
"@types/node": "^12.0.4",
"@types/webpack": "^4.4.32",
"clean-webpack-plugin": "^3.0.0",
"copy-webpack-plugin": "^5.0.3",
"declaration-bundler-webpack-plugin": "^1.0.3",
"ts-loader": "^6.0.1",
"typescript": "^3.5.1",
"webpack": "^4.32.2",
"webpack-cli": "^3.3.2",
"wepack-cli": "0.0.1-security"
}
}Add tsconfig file at the root of the project
tsconfig.json
{
"compilerOptions": {
"module": "commonjs",
"noImplicitAny": true,
"removeComments": true,
"preserveConstEnums": true,
"sourceMap": true,
"declaration": true,
"moduleResolution": "node",
"outDir": "./dist",
"rootDir": "."
},
"include": ["src"]
}src\calculator.ts
export class Calculator {
static version = '1'
constructor() {}
add(a: number, b: number) {
console.log(`version ${Calculator.version}`)
return a + b
}
}create index file to export all of the public apis/modules.
src\index.ts
export * from './calculator'Run below script to go with interactive webpack cli
npx webpack-cli init
Webpack cli will ask you below questions and then it will create the webpack.config.js file automatically See my answers to below questions.
? Will your application have multiple bundles? No
? Which module will be the first to enter the application? [default: ./src/index]
? Which folder will your generated bundles be in? [default: dist]:
? Will you be using ES2015? No
? Will you use one of the below CSS solutions? No
Will you be using ES2015?
Answer: No, since I will use Typescript therefore I answer No to below question.
Will you use one of the below CSS solutions?
Answer: No, since My project is purely typescript library project I don't have web project also I don't have html css. Therefore, I selected no for CSS question.
entry: {
"mylib": path.resolve(__dirname, 'src/index.ts')
},Add below rule in your webpack.config.js file.
module: {
rules: [
{
test: /\.ts$/,
exclude: [/node_modules/],
loader: 'ts-loader'
}
]
},Normally webpack will create a bundle file with hashed file name. I personally don't like it therefore I am removing the hash from output. Feel free to skip this step.
webpack.config.js
output: {
chunkFilename: '[name].js',
filename: '[name].js'
},In webpack.config.js add devtool
devtool:'source-map',
In webpack.config.js add resolve
resolve: { extensions: ['.ts'] },
"scripts": {
"build": "webpack"
},Now if you run npm run build you should see the dist folder to be created with your output file.
Build Output in Dist Folder:
It is always a good idea to also create type definition bundle so that your library can be used by other projects and they can get the type intellisense.
Add below file declaration-bundler-webpack-plugin.fix.js
const DeclarationBundlerPlugin = require('declaration-bundler-webpack-plugin')
let buggyFunc = DeclarationBundlerPlugin.prototype.generateCombinedDeclaration
DeclarationBundlerPlugin.prototype.generateCombinedDeclaration = function(
declarationFiles
) {
for (var fileName in declarationFiles) {
let declarationFile = declarationFiles[fileName]
declarationFile._value =
declarationFile._value || declarationFile.source()
}
return buggyFunc.call(this, declarationFiles)
}
module.exports = DeclarationBundlerPluginconst DeclarationBundlerPlugin = require('./declaration-bundler-webpack-plugin.fix')
...
plugins: [
new UglifyJSPlugin(),
new DeclarationBundlerPlugin({
moduleName: '"mylib"',
out: '@types/index.d.ts'
})
],
...Complete webpack.config.js file looks like below:
const webpack = require('webpack')
const path = require('path')
const DeclarationBundlerPlugin = require('./declaration-bundler-webpack-plugin.fix')
const UglifyJSPlugin = require('uglifyjs-webpack-plugin')
module.exports = {
entry: {
mylib: path.resolve(__dirname, 'src/index.ts')
},
module: {
rules: [
{
test: /\.ts$/,
exclude: [/node_modules/],
loader: 'ts-loader'
}
]
},
resolve: { extensions: ['.ts'] },
output: {
chunkFilename: '[name].js',
filename: '[name].js'
},
mode: 'development',
plugins: [
new UglifyJSPlugin(),
new DeclarationBundlerPlugin({
moduleName: '"mylib"',
out: '@types/index.d.ts'
})
],
devtool: 'source-map',
optimization: {
splitChunks: {
cacheGroups: {
vendors: {
priority: -10,
test: /[\\/]node_modules[\\/]/
}
},
chunks: 'async',
minChunks: 1,
minSize: 30000,
name: true
}
}
}Now run npm run build
It will crate dist folder with library bundle and type definition bundle as well.
Dist folder with mylib.js and @types
Add below code in webpack.config.js
const { CleanWebpackPlugin } = require('clean-webpack-plugin')
plugins: [
new CleanWebpackPlugin(),
...
],Now add some garbage files in dist folder and run
npm run build you should see your garbage files are deleted and only types and lib files are there.
You should copy package.json to dist folder so that you can publish your dist folder to npm.org
{
"name": "my-sample-typescript",
"version": "1.0.0",
"description": "My Library",
"author": "",
"license": "ISC"
}Add below webpack plugin to copy package.json file to dist.
const CopyWebpackPlugin = require('copy-webpack-plugin')
plugins: [
...
new CopyWebpackPlugin([
{
from: './src/package.json',
to: '../dist/package.json'
}
])
],Now if you run the npm run build you should see package.json file in your dist folder
🏆Commit Link : https://github.com/rupeshtiwari/setup-webpack-from-scratch-for-typescript/commit/fc1a1cd7c240f63877957083cbe84fce72db975e
Read my article for detail insight https://rupeshtiwari.com/how-to-create-documentation-of-any-typescript-project/
Run below script to install typedoc and webpack plugin for typedoc
npm i -D typedoc-webpack-plugin typedoc
Add below code in your webpack.config.js file.
const TypedocWebpackPlugin = require('typedoc-webpack-plugin')
plugins: [
...
new TypedocWebpackPlugin({
out: 'docs'
})
],Now if you run the npm run build you should see docs folder created you can browse via any browser and see them. 👌
🏆Commit Link : https://github.com/rupeshtiwari/setup-webpack-from-scratch-for-typescript/commit/33ca92547efbead58cb783a78fa51d847db7d2b4
The
tsconfig.jsonwill still work, but the caveat is still good to keep in mind.source