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CodeKit

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CodeKit vs Webpack: What are the differences?

Introduction

This markdown code provides the key differences between CodeKit and Webpack, two popular tools used in web development. CodeKit is a task automation tool that helps in managing and organizing web projects, while Webpack is a module bundler for JavaScript applications.

  1. Build Process: CodeKit offers a simple and intuitive build process, where you can add files and define their order, and it takes care of preprocessing and compiling various assets. On the other hand, Webpack provides a more flexible and powerful build process, allowing you to define complex dependency graphs, perform module-based code splitting, and optimize assets using loaders and plugins.

  2. Hot Module Replacement: Webpack has the ability to perform hot module replacement, which allows for instant updates in the browser without the need for a full page reload. CodeKit, however, does not have this feature built-in and requires manual page refreshes when making changes to your code.

  3. Extensibility and Customization: CodeKit provides a user-friendly interface for managing various build tasks, but it has limited extensibility options compared to Webpack. Webpack, being highly configurable, allows you to customize and extend its functionality using loaders, plugins, and custom configuration files.

  4. JavaScript Ecosystem: Webpack is widely adopted in the JavaScript ecosystem and is the de facto standard for bundling JavaScript modules. It provides extensive support for module systems like CommonJS, AMD, and ES modules, allowing you to import and use third-party libraries easily. CodeKit, on the other hand, primarily focuses on preprocessing and compiling various assets and does not offer the same level of support for JavaScript modules.

  5. Community and Ecosystem: Webpack has a large and active community, with a wide range of plugins and loaders available for various use cases. It has become the standard build tool for many JavaScript frameworks and libraries. CodeKit, while having a smaller community, still provides a decent selection of plugins and support for popular frameworks like Bootstrap and Foundation.

  6. Learning Curve: CodeKit has a relatively low learning curve compared to Webpack. It is designed to be user-friendly and provides a visual interface for managing build tasks. Webpack, on the other hand, has a steeper learning curve due to its extensive configuration options and complex concepts like loaders, plugins, and code splitting.

In summary, CodeKit offers a simpler and more user-friendly approach to managing build tasks, while Webpack provides a more powerful and customizable solution with a vibrant ecosystem and extensive JavaScript module support.

Decisions about CodeKit and Webpack
Aleksandr Filatov
Contract Software Engineer - Microsoft · | 4 upvotes · 281.7K views
Why migrated?

I could define the next points why we have to migrate:

  • Decrease build time of our application. (It was the main cause).
  • Also jspm install takes much more time than npm install.
  • Many config files for SystemJS and JSPM. For Webpack you can use just one main config file, and you can use some separate config files for specific builds using inheritance and merge them.
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We mostly use rollup to publish package onto NPM. For most all other use cases, we use the Meteor build tool (probably 99% of the time) for publishing packages. If you're using Node on FHIR you probably won't need to know rollup, unless you are somehow working on helping us publish front end user interface components using FHIR. That being said, we have been migrating away from Atmosphere package manager towards NPM. As we continue to migrate away, we may publish other NPM packages using rollup.

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Pros of CodeKit
Pros of Webpack
  • 8
    Instant setup for quick experiments
  • 8
    Easy to configure
  • 7
    Cross device live reloading
  • 5
    Any editor OK
  • 309
    Most powerful bundler
  • 182
    Built-in dev server with livereload
  • 142
    Can handle all types of assets
  • 87
    Easy configuration
  • 22
    Laravel-mix
  • 4
    Overengineered, Underdeveloped
  • 2
    Makes it easy to bundle static assets
  • 2
    Webpack-Encore
  • 1
    Redundant
  • 1
    Better support in Browser Dev-Tools

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Cons of CodeKit
Cons of Webpack
    Be the first to leave a con
    • 15
      Hard to configure
    • 5
      No clear direction
    • 2
      Spaghetti-Code out of the box
    • 2
      SystemJS integration is quite lackluster
    • 2
      Loader architecture is quite a mess (unreliable/buggy)
    • 2
      Fire and Forget mentality of Core-Developers

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    - No public GitHub repository available -

    What is CodeKit?

    Process Less, Sass, Stylus, Jade, Haml, Slim, CoffeeScript, Javascript, and Compass files automatically each time you save. Easily set options for each language.

    What is Webpack?

    A bundler for javascript and friends. Packs many modules into a few bundled assets. Code Splitting allows to load parts for the application on demand. Through "loaders" modules can be CommonJs, AMD, ES6 modules, CSS, Images, JSON, Coffeescript, LESS, ... and your custom stuff.

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    What tools integrate with CodeKit?
    What tools integrate with Webpack?

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    What are some alternatives to CodeKit and Webpack?
    Sublime Text
    Sublime Text is available for OS X, Windows and Linux. One license is all you need to use Sublime Text on every computer you own, no matter what operating system it uses. Sublime Text uses a custom UI toolkit, optimized for speed and beauty, while taking advantage of native functionality on each platform.
    gulp
    Build system automating tasks: minification and copying of all JavaScript files, static images. More capable of watching files to automatically rerun the task when a file changes.
    Prepros
    It is an interface tool which handles pre-processing, and other front-end tasks. Its greatest strength is the incredible ease with which it allows you to use pre-processors of various kinds, be they for CSS, HTML or JavaScript.
    NetBeans IDE
    NetBeans IDE is FREE, open source, and has a worldwide community of users and developers.
    Coda
    It is a new doc for teams. It begins with a blinking cursor and grows as big as your team’s ambition. Coda docs do everything from run weekly meetings to launch products.
    See all alternatives