SurviveJS - Webpack - v1.9
If the previous release was a big step, this is another one. By the looks of it, the final paper version will be around 450 pages. Don’t worry, though, I’ve taken special care to keep the chapters short and focused.
I consider the current release content complete. Only final tweaking and tuning remain.
Overview of the Situation
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I added the missing chapter on testing while introducing a new part to the book that covers specific techniques. In addition, the part covers aspects like internationalization and web workers. You can also find new material at the beginning and the end of the book, but I’ll leave those for you to discover and check out.
The structure and the content of the book feel solid now. All that remains is studying the chapters in detail and improving where possible. I have a couple of rough ideas what to do, but overall the changes required are small. Remember to provide feedback to me as it will make this final process smoother.
Book Improvements - 1.9#
1.9I took my habit of silent releases to a new level during this iteration. This was due to the fact that the changes I made were not disruptive and rather improved the book.
Especially the techniques part feels like a good addition to the book. There is enough material for you to get started with the covered topics. Apart from the testing chapter, the new chapters are short so you can get the main ideas fast.
One of the additions I’m most excited about has to do with chapter conclusions. I wrote a small recap for each main chapter of the book. This allows you to see what I consider as the main ideas of each chapter. You could learn a lot about webpack by reading the summaries alone.
The book also has a proper conclusion chapter now that works as a checklist. You can use it against your application to see if you are using the techniques covered in the book.
In addition to these changes, you will find numerous smaller improvements. I spent a lot of time reviewing the book for grammar issues. In short, the book should read better.
In total 234 commits went to the book since the last release. You can find the changes at GitHub↗. Remember especially the “Files changed” tab as it gives you a good overview of what’s happening with the book.
What Next?
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Given the book covers the topics I want, I can focus on improving its quality. I feel the book is in a good place overall, but I want to sharpen certain parts before going paper. Especially the chapters related to extending webpack can become better as new technology has appeared making them easier to develop.
I also have something font related brewing that will make it easier to figure out which fonts you should load, but more on this the next time.
Conclusion
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As usual, feedback is welcome. I’m active at the book Gitter channel↗ and you can reach me through it easily. I am still looking for testimonials for the final release and I will choose a few for the book cover.
If you want to support the development of the book, pick up a copy at Leanpub↗. 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. Literally most of the income goes to webpack developers now!