Introduction

This is the first of the two parts about using webpack and the corresponding nuget package I created, in an asp.net 5 application.
This part acts as an introduction to the reasons behind the need for an alternative approach of static asset management and JavaScript module bundling in an asp.net 5 application.
Besides that includes a brief explanation of an example Reactjs application that uses the webpack nuget package. In the second part we will explore the internals of the nuget package itself and dig into webpack’s details.

Why Webpack

Webpack is one of the solutions that are available out there and solves JavaScript reference modules problem. It’s also my favourite tool to use it in the Reactjs project I am involved lately. Webpack provides wider functionality except just referencing external JavaScript code but this is not the scope of this blog spot. In this post I will try to concentrate in a feature of the tool that most examples don’t use it and it’s very important according to my opinion. This is the resolve section of Webpack configuration and how it can help us in day to day development.

Why I was absent

It is a long time from my last post but so much have happened during this time period. Initially I was involved in the organization of local Global Azure Bootcamp in Thessaloniki. It was our first attempt to organize an one day event and we are very satisfied by the result. It is an amazing feeling to be part of a global community for one day. Right after Azure Bootcamp, Microsoft’s biggest development conference took place in San Fransisco. At Build tons of new features were announced and I am still straggling to watch all the interesting videos on Channel 9. Lastly I attended the first international development conference that was organized in the city I am living, in Thessaloniki. Devit took place on Friday 15th of May and it was very successful and amazingly well organized conference.

ASP.NET vNext

asp.net vNext is the next version of the well know web stack framework and I won’t describe it at all as it’s quite easy to find details about it. It’s not yet production ready but that point comes really close. I am very interested on this new web stack and the direction it gets so I am playing with it when the time permits. Among the other changes the core team has done, they also changed the way the client side package management is done. The framework adopts well known practices on the field and adds to the core system tools like npm and bower package managers and gulp and grunt tasks runners. For the people that are not familiar with basic nodejs development and client side package management they should spend some time and study those as it’s part of the next version of asp.net. An excellent place to start the reading is the newly added official documentation site of asp.net vNext.