Caching
So we're using webpack to bundle our modular application which yields a deployable /dist directory. Once the contents of /dist have been deployed to a server, clients (typically browsers) will hit that server to grab the site and its assets. The last step can be time consuming, which is why browsers use a technique called caching. This allows sites to load faster with less unnecessary network traffic, however it can also cause headaches when you need new code to be picked up.
This guide focuses on the configuration needed to ensure files produced by webpack compilation can remain cached unless their contents has changed.
Output Filenames
A simple way to ensure the browser picks up changed files is by using output.filename substitutions. The [hash] substitution can be used to include a build-specific hash in the filename, however it's even better to use the [chunkhash] substitution which includes a chunk-specific hash in the filename.
Let's get our project set up using the example from getting started with the plugins from output management, so we don't have to deal with maintaining our index.html file manually:
project
webpack-demo
|- package.json
|- webpack.config.js
|- /dist
|- /src
|- index.js
|- /node_modules
webpack.config.js
const path = require('path');
const CleanWebpackPlugin = require('clean-webpack-plugin');
const HtmlWebpackPlugin = require('html-webpack-plugin');
module.exports = {
entry: './src/index.js',
plugins: [
new CleanWebpackPlugin(['dist']),
new HtmlWebpackPlugin({
- title: 'Output Management'
+ title: 'Caching'
})
],
output: {
- filename: 'bundle.js',
+ filename: '[name].[chunkhash].js',
path: path.resolve(__dirname, 'dist')
}
};
Running our build script, npm run build, with this configuration should produce the following output:
Hash: f7a289a94c5e4cd1e566
Version: webpack 3.5.1
Time: 835ms
Asset Size Chunks Chunk Names
main.7e2c49a622975ebd9b7e.js 544 kB 0 [emitted] [big] main
index.html 197 bytes [emitted]
[0] ./src/index.js 216 bytes {0} [built]
[2] (webpack)/buildin/global.js 509 bytes {0} [built]
[3] (webpack)/buildin/module.js 517 bytes {0} [built]
+ 1 hidden module
Child html-webpack-plugin for "index.html":
1 asset
[2] (webpack)/buildin/global.js 509 bytes {0} [built]
[3] (webpack)/buildin/module.js 517 bytes {0} [built]
+ 2 hidden modules
As you can see the bundle's name now reflects its content (via the hash). If we run another build without making any changes, we'd expect that filename to stay the same. However, if we were to run it again, we may find that this is not the case:
Hash: f7a289a94c5e4cd1e566
Version: webpack 3.5.1
Time: 835ms
Asset Size Chunks Chunk Names
main.205199ab45963f6a62ec.js 544 kB 0 [emitted] [big] main
index.html 197 bytes [emitted]
[0] ./src/index.js 216 bytes {0} [built]
[2] (webpack)/buildin/global.js 509 bytes {0} [built]
[3] (webpack)/buildin/module.js 517 bytes {0} [built]
+ 1 hidden module
Child html-webpack-plugin for "index.html":
1 asset
[2] (webpack)/buildin/global.js 509 bytes {0} [built]
[3] (webpack)/buildin/module.js 517 bytes {0} [built]
+ 2 hidden modules
This is because webpack includes certain boilerplate, specifically the runtime and manifest, in the entry chunk.
Output may differ depending on your current webpack version. Newer versions may not have all the same issues with hashing as some older versions, but we still recommend the following steps to be safe.
Extracting Boilerplate
As we learned in code splitting, the CommonsChunkPlugin can be used to split modules out into separate bundles. A lesser-known feature of the CommonsChunkPlugin is extracting webpack's boilerplate and manifest which can change with every build. By specifying a name not mentioned in the entry configuration, the plugin will automatically extract what we want into a separate bundle:
webpack.config.js
const path = require('path');
+ const webpack = require('webpack');
const CleanWebpackPlugin = require('clean-webpack-plugin');
const HtmlWebpackPlugin = require('html-webpack-plugin');
module.exports = {
entry: './src/index.js',
plugins: [
new CleanWebpackPlugin(['dist']),
new HtmlWebpackPlugin({
title: 'Caching'
- })
+ }),
+ new webpack.optimize.CommonsChunkPlugin({
+ name: 'manifest'
+ })
],
output: {
filename: '[name].[chunkhash].js',
path: path.resolve(__dirname, 'dist')
}
};
Let's run another build to see the extracted manifest bundle:
Hash: 80552632979856ddab34
Version: webpack 3.3.0
Time: 1512ms
Asset Size Chunks Chunk Names
main.5ec8e954e32d66dee1aa.js 542 kB 0 [emitted] [big] main
manifest.719796322be98041fff2.js 5.82 kB 1 [emitted] manifest
index.html 275 bytes [emitted]
[0] ./src/index.js 336 bytes {0} [built]
[2] (webpack)/buildin/global.js 509 bytes {0} [built]
[3] (webpack)/buildin/module.js 517 bytes {0} [built]
+ 1 hidden module
It's also good practice to extract third-party libraries, such as lodash or react, to a separate vendor chunk as they are less likely to change than our local source code. This step will allow clients to request even less from the server to stay up to date. This can be done by using a combination of a new entry point along with another CommonsChunkPlugin instance:
webpack.config.js
var path = require('path');
const webpack = require('webpack');
const CleanWebpackPlugin = require('clean-webpack-plugin');
const HtmlWebpackPlugin = require('html-webpack-plugin');
module.exports = {
- entry: './src/index.js',
+ entry: {
+ main: './src/index.js',
+ vendor: [
+ 'lodash'
+ ]
+ },
plugins: [
new CleanWebpackPlugin(['dist']),
new HtmlWebpackPlugin({
title: 'Caching'
}),
+ new webpack.optimize.CommonsChunkPlugin({
+ name: 'vendor'
+ }),
new webpack.optimize.CommonsChunkPlugin({
name: 'manifest'
})
],
output: {
filename: '[name].[chunkhash].js',
path: path.resolve(__dirname, 'dist')
}
};
Note that order matters here. The'vendor'instance of theCommonsChunkPluginmust be included prior to the'manifest'instance.
Let's run another build to see our new vendor bundle:
Hash: 69eb92ebf8935413280d
Version: webpack 3.3.0
Time: 1502ms
Asset Size Chunks Chunk Names
vendor.8196d409d2f988123318.js 541 kB 0 [emitted] [big] vendor
main.0ac0ae2d4a11214ccd19.js 791 bytes 1 [emitted] main
manifest.004a1114de8bcf026622.js 5.85 kB 2 [emitted] manifest
index.html 352 bytes [emitted]
[1] ./src/index.js 336 bytes {1} [built]
[2] (webpack)/buildin/global.js 509 bytes {0} [built]
[3] (webpack)/buildin/module.js 517 bytes {0} [built]
[4] multi lodash 28 bytes {0} [built]
+ 1 hidden module
Module Identifiers
Let's add another module, print.js, to our project:
project
webpack-demo
|- package.json
|- webpack.config.js
|- /dist
|- /src
|- index.js
+ |- print.js
|- /node_modules
print.js
+ export default function print(text) {
+ console.log(text);
+ };
src/index.js
import _ from 'lodash';
+ import Print from './print';
function component() {
var element = document.createElement('div');
// Lodash, now imported by this script
element.innerHTML = _.join(['Hello', 'webpack'], ' ');
+ element.onclick = Print.bind(null, 'Hello webpack!');
return element;
}
document.body.appendChild(component());
Running another build, we would expect only our main bundle's hash to change, however...
Hash: d38a06644fdbb898d795
Version: webpack 3.3.0
Time: 1445ms
Asset Size Chunks Chunk Names
vendor.a7561fb0e9a071baadb9.js 541 kB 0 [emitted] [big] vendor
main.b746e3eb72875af2caa9.js 1.22 kB 1 [emitted] main
manifest.1400d5af64fc1b7b3a45.js 5.85 kB 2 [emitted] manifest
index.html 352 bytes [emitted]
[1] ./src/index.js 421 bytes {1} [built]
[2] (webpack)/buildin/global.js 509 bytes {0} [built]
[3] (webpack)/buildin/module.js 517 bytes {0} [built]
[4] ./src/print.js 62 bytes {1} [built]
[5] multi lodash 28 bytes {0} [built]
+ 1 hidden module
... we can see that all three have. This is because each module.id is incremented based on resolving order by default. Meaning when the order of resolving is changed, the IDs will be changed as well. So, to recap:
- The
mainbundle changed because of its new content. - The
vendorbundle changed because itsmodule.idwas changed. - And, the
manifestbundle changed because it now contains a reference to a new module.
The first and last are expected -- it's the vendor hash we want to fix. Luckily, there are two plugins we can use to resolve this issue. The first is the NamedModulesPlugin, which will use the path to the module rather than a numerical identifier. While this plugin is useful during development for more readable output, it does take a bit longer to run. The second option is the HashedModuleIdsPlugin, which is recommended for production builds:
webpack.config.js
const path = require('path');
const webpack = require('webpack');
const CleanWebpackPlugin = require('clean-webpack-plugin');
const HtmlWebpackPlugin = require('html-webpack-plugin');
module.exports = {
entry: {
main: './src/index.js',
vendor: [
'lodash'
]
},
plugins: [
new CleanWebpackPlugin(['dist']),
new HtmlWebpackPlugin({
title: 'Caching'
}),
+ new webpack.HashedModuleIdsPlugin(),
new webpack.optimize.CommonsChunkPlugin({
name: 'vendor'
}),
new webpack.optimize.CommonsChunkPlugin({
name: 'manifest'
})
],
output: {
filename: '[name].[chunkhash].js',
path: path.resolve(__dirname, 'dist')
}
};
Now, despite any new local dependencies, our vendor hash should stay consistent between builds:
Hash: 1f49b42afb9a5acfbaff
Version: webpack 3.3.0
Time: 1372ms
Asset Size Chunks Chunk Names
vendor.eed6dcc3b30cfa138aaa.js 541 kB 0 [emitted] [big] vendor
main.d103ac311788fcb7e329.js 1.22 kB 1 [emitted] main
manifest.d2a6dc1ccece13f5a164.js 5.85 kB 2 [emitted] manifest
index.html 352 bytes [emitted]
[3Di9] ./src/print.js 62 bytes {1} [built]
[3IRH] (webpack)/buildin/module.js 517 bytes {0} [built]
[DuR2] (webpack)/buildin/global.js 509 bytes {0} [built]
[0] multi lodash 28 bytes {0} [built]
[lVK7] ./src/index.js 421 bytes {1} [built]
+ 1 hidden module
And let's modify our src/index.js to temporarily remove that extra dependency:
src/index.js
import _ from 'lodash';
- import Print from './print';
+ // import Print from './print';
function component() {
var element = document.createElement('div');
// Lodash, now imported by this script
element.innerHTML = _.join(['Hello', 'webpack'], ' ');
- element.onclick = Print.bind(null, 'Hello webpack!');
+ // element.onclick = Print.bind(null, 'Hello webpack!');
return element;
}
document.body.appendChild(component());
And finally run our build again:
Hash: 37e1358f135c0b992f72
Version: webpack 3.3.0
Time: 1557ms
Asset Size Chunks Chunk Names
vendor.eed6dcc3b30cfa138aaa.js 541 kB 0 [emitted] [big] vendor
main.fc7f38e648da79db2aba.js 891 bytes 1 [emitted] main
manifest.bb5820632fb66c3fb357.js 5.85 kB 2 [emitted] manifest
index.html 352 bytes [emitted]
[3IRH] (webpack)/buildin/module.js 517 bytes {0} [built]
[DuR2] (webpack)/buildin/global.js 509 bytes {0} [built]
[0] multi lodash 28 bytes {0} [built]
[lVK7] ./src/index.js 427 bytes {1} [built]
+ 1 hidden module
We can see that both builds yielded eed6dcc3b30cfa138aaa in the vendor bundle's filename.
Conclusion
Caching gets messy. Plain and simple. However the walk-through above should give you a running start to deploying consistent, cachable assets. See the Further Reading section below to learn more.
