About

Webpack configuration for ES5/ES6 React components written in Typescript to be used as a module in other apps.

Develop, debug, test and distribute react component(s) easy.

Features

• Write in Typescript, .tsx, .ts, but also .jsx & .js are supported
• Ready for react-router, dev server serves deep links
• Load inline images
• Configured font loader
• Load Fonts Awesome
• Supports CSS, SCSS & LESS on the same time
• cssModules (with *.module.less/scss filename pattern)
• Test with Jest, with snapshots
• Distribute as module with TypeScript Definitions (ready to import)
• Distributed version works in Javascript and Typescript applications

Installation

git clone http://github.com/aneldev/dyna-ts-react-module-boilerplate my-awesome-react-component
cd my-awesome-react-component
npm run create

That's it.

What is the difference with the create-react-app?

create-react-app creates react applications, includes whatever an application needs.

dyna-ts-react-module-boilerplate creates modules, it creates react components that will be used in react applications.

Tip: Instead of create-react-app use the create-react-app-typescript where forks the create-react-app and supports Typescript.

Develop

Implement

The source code of your project is under the src/ folder only. What will be distributed is what it is exported from the src/index.tsc.

There are loaders for various files, like: .less, .scss, .svg, .jpg, etc.. Loaders are loaded in webpack.loaders.js, where you can add your own loaders that will be used from all tasks (npm scripts).

Under the dev/app/ folder there is a small web application that uses this component with one or more ways. By this way you can develop, debug and make a showcase of how your component(s) can be used.

Under the dev/public/ folder is the http folder of the application, you should not do anything there because this is not distributed.

Create your showcase updating the file dev/showcase/showcase.tsx. The https://github.com/aneldev/dyna-showcase to create your showcase in easy enough.

Develop / Debug / Preview

This boilerplate uses the dyna-showcase to show how your module is rendered under different props. The concept is the same as the StoryBook but it is much lighter and without styles and some tools that helps the debugging and development.

• Implement your component(s) under src/
• Implement the usage of your components(s) in dev/showcase/showcase.tsx
• Call npm start
• Open in any browser http://localhost:3200 to develop, debug or preview.

Test

Write tests

For tests is used the Jest also check the documentation.

Test files can be anywhere but they should have a name *.(test|spec).(ts|tsx|js|jsx) . There is a tests/ folder if you want to use but this is not a limitation.

Run tests

Call npm run test to run your tests and coverage. This test also builds your application, ts errors can be shown here.

Call npm run test-only to run your tests only including coverage, no build no ts errors.

Call npm run test-watch to run your tests on any changes, no build, no ts errors, no coverage.

Build

There is no need to build. npm run build script exists and builds a distribution version under the /dist folder but this version is not intended for execution but is intended to import is in other components or applications.

Release

Call npm run release to:

• to create a distributable version of your project under the dist/ folder
• bump patch versions
• publish to npm
• push to your repo

The package configuration exports the dist/ folder so you have call npm run dist every time you want to publish this package. The typescript declarations are there out of the box.

The output is not compressed, while it is intended to be used in other apps where there will be bundled and compressed there.

The output of your package is what it is extracted only from your src/index.jsx.

Tip 1: During development, there is no need to call the dist on any code change, you can import the src/ folder of this module like this: import MyReactComponentModule from 'my-module/src'; instead of import MyReactComponentModule from 'my-module';.

Tip 2: You can link this module with your main application using the npm link for more reading https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/link.

Tip 3: With npm > 5.0.0 the above link can be made defining the "file:xxx" instead of the version number, for more reading https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/link.

Tip 4: npm link uses the system's integrated folder mirror mechanism. In some case this quite problematic this boilerplate come with a solution for this problem, read next at "Link your modules easily".

Features (tips)

Link your modules easily

In case that npm link doesn't work correctly this boilerplate offer a ready sync mechanism for such as cases.

0. Copy ./syncExternalsList.sample.js to ./syncExternalsList.js once only.
1. Update the ./syncExternalsList.js list with external apps you want to keep sync.
2. Call npm run sync-externals

Bundle node_modules

By default all node_modules are excluded from the builder. This means that are not in the bundle.

For debugging reasons... you might want to include them.

In order to include them, edit the /webpack.dist.config.js and comment the externals: [nodeExternals()] line.

If you want to exclude specific modules while are not so clean like pg, helmet, express, exclude them like this: externals: ['helmet', 'pg', 'express'].

Known issues

• HMR is not working

Missing features

• Types for cssModules

Forks are welcome!

Have fun

Feel free to clone and fork.

Interesting for typescript module (without react component)?

If you are interesting for typescript module, with other words if you want to implement everything like we do here but not exporting directly a react component, check this dyna-ts-module-boilerplate repo.

References

Webpack configuration