Compared to the first release a couple of weeks ago, this version has matured quite a bit. I've been reviewing the content with my editor (thanks Jesús!) and that has lead to some nice insights. Our work is still in progress and so far we've combed through only a couple of the first chapters. The work will continue in the coming weeks.
Overall we are going to a good direction with this book. The effort has forced me to understand webpack on a deeper level. That's a good thing. I expect 1.2.0 will improve the situation further as I can cover webpack in greater detail. The book structure seems solid and it's easy to grow content on top of it.
Perhaps the biggest technical improvement this time around is the introduction of a new configuration format. I realized using webpack-merge allows us to split configuration into smaller functions.
This way webpack.config.js can remain simpler while we get configuration code that can be shared across multiple projects and even published to npm. It's also easier for me to explain what's going on this way.
This change was motivated by a tool known as webpack-validator. It checks your webpack configuration against a schema and it is able to point out configuration issues during development. This is valuable as the errors webpack emits aren't always the easiest to understand. Using a little tool like this takes some pain out of the process.
There are numerous other improvements as well, but read on to learn more about those. I feel the book is evolving to a good direction although there is still a lot of work left. I'll focus on the React book next so I can finally get the promised split done.
1.1.0#In total 118 commits went to the book since the last release. You can find the important changes below. See GitHub for all changes. Remember especially the "Files changed" tab as it gives you a good overview of what's happening with the book.
SourceMapDevToolPlugin is covered.npm-install-webpack-plugin#import to this chapter. It felt like a good idea to push it later in the book. It cannot be eliminated as we need something to minify.DefinePlugin in greater detail.--profile and --json actually do. If you aren't interested in timing information, you can skip --profile.postinstall scripts can be potentially dangerous. If you want to skip them, use npm install --ignore-scripts or set npm config set ignore-scripts true to default to ignore.module.noParse idea to this chapter to improve the flow and to make the early part of the book a little easier.I feel this release took the book a notch further. I still have plenty of topics to explore and expand upon. We'll also be continue reviewing the book chapter by chapter to push quality.
I'll do a little pass on the React book next to finish the split. If you have bought it already, you'll receive a free coupon to this one then to thank you for your support.
Of course if you want to support the development of the book, pick up a copy at Leanpub. You can still gift the coupon to a friend. A part of the income (around ~30%) goes to Tobias Koppers, the author of webpack. This is my way of supporting his work given mine builds on top of his.