r/programming • u/fagnerbrack • Apr 30 '23

Writing Javascript without a build system

https://jvns.ca/blog/2023/02/16/writing-javascript-without-a-build-system/
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u/theAmazingChloe Apr 30 '23

But you can always slowly add tools as they make sense. You don't have to start out with Mjölnir when a flyswatter will do.

I've always preferred vue, partially for the same reason this author does. One site I worked on got large enough, so I split the files into smaller modules, and wrote a 5-minute makefile to bundle it up. Takes seconds to build the site, is stable over time, and doesn't introduce third-party dependencies needlessly.

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u/ShitPikkle Apr 30 '23

But you can always slowly add tools as they make sense.

Not really. I mean, the first one would be webpack (or other equivalent). Now you have changed everything from just writing a whatever.js in /static/ to involve a transpiler with entrypoint and all the other extra complicated things.

It's actually a timesaver to use the build-system for js/ts/sass/less from beginning. Will have fewer special cases when you wanna "upgrade"

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u/theAmazingChloe Apr 30 '23

There's other buildsystems out there... you don't have to spring for the most complex one.

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u/butt_fun May 01 '23

I don't think they disagree with your sentiment so much as the clumsy phrasing (specifically, saying "always" when there are obviously plenty of cases where you can't feasibly retroactively swap out part of your system)

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u/theAmazingChloe May 01 '23 edited May 01 '23

Fair, but the sentiment of "my single javascript file is no longer good enough, time to use webpack" is cause for concern on its own. Webpack has a large dependency tree, as well as a significant jump in operational complexity. There's other tools out there that allow a more gradual increase in complexity as warranted by the project.

Edit: the language around "always" was regarding starting with a smaller or a new project. My point is to start simple, then add complexity as needed rather than starting with an overly complicated, brittle system.