SurviveJS - Webpack - v2.0

Here we go then. This is the big release I've been working towards for the past few months. Compared to the previous release this one is more polished and also available in a paper form. The digital edition has 458 pages while the paper version grew to 499 due to layout reasons.

If you aren't interested in what has changed, skip straight to the book.

Overview of the Situation#

Writing and content is only a part of the work required. Especially editing phase and tuning the book so that page breaks are in place and that content fits need significant effort. Compared to my first paper book, I spent far more time editing and I hope it shows in the result.

I found room for a couple of more chapters based on the existing content. I feel this made certain parts of the book easier to approach even though I admit it's a long book! I like the idea of writing a lot of shorter, focused chapters and I'll be using this model in the future as well.

As I've been preparing for the Euro tour, I had a good chance to look at the content critically. I condensed the book into two sets of slides: Webpack - From Apprentice to Journeyman and Webpack - From Journeyman to Master. I also created a related presentation that goes by the name of Re-imagining Webpack. It's a quick look at the project and where it's going.

The way to a paper release was far harder than I anticipated but journeys like this are rarely easy. And there is still more to come. If nothing else, pushing this release out there is a big personal step for me and it has also taught me a lot. I'm particularly thankful to the community that supported me in this effort and helped me to surpass myself over and over again.

Book Improvements - 2.0#

I released a series of silent releases as before. The biggest changes had to do with splitting of a few chapters that had grown too long and unfocused. Especially the packaging and extending parts of the book received a lot of attention. I also put heavy effort into editing the book to make sure pages of the print edition break at the right places.

In total 726 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?#

The next bigger step for me is to get through the Euro tour successfully. There is also more writing to be done as certain other book might require an update and a third one just might be on sight! I've been also experimenting with screencasts but we'll see if that leads anywhere.

How to get the book?#

I prepared a special landing page that explains the book in detail. But if you know it already, consider the following:

A special signature edition will happen if there is enough interest. I want one!.

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!
You can support webpack through open collective too.

Conclusion#

I hope you enjoy the book! It took a lot of work to get here and there's still more to come. Thank you for your support!

Note that I'm active at the book Gitter channel if you want to bug me about webpack. You can also ask questions at my AmA.

Need help?