webpack.dev.config.js

const webpack = require('webpack');
const path = require('path');
const HtmlWebpackPlugin = require('html-webpack-plugin');
const { spawn } = require('child_process');

// Any directories you will be adding code/files into, need to be added to this array so webpack will pick them up
const defaultInclude = path.resolve(__dirname, 'src');

module.exports = {
  module: {
    // specifies rules to transpile frontend code
    rules: [
      {
        // condition to match files using regex
        test: /\.s?css$/,
        // loaders to use
        use: ['style-loader', 'css-loader', 'sass-loader'],
        // An array of path or directories that have the files to be transformed by the loader
        include: defaultInclude,
      },
      {
        test: /\.jsx?$/,
        use: [
          {
            loader: 'babel-loader',
            options: {
              presets: ['@babel/preset-env', '@babel/preset-react'],
            },
          },
        ],
        include: defaultInclude,
      },
      {
        test: /\.(jpe?g|png|gif)$/,
        use: [{ loader: 'file-loader?name=img/[name]__[hash:base64:5].[ext]' }],
        include: defaultInclude,
      },
      {
        test: /\.(eot|svg|ttf|woff|woff2)$/,
        use: [{ loader: 'file-loader?name=font/[name]__[hash:base64:5].[ext]' }],
        include: defaultInclude,
      },
    ],
  },
  // Webpack can compile for multiple environments aka targets.
  // 'electron-renderer' instructs webpack to compile for Electron for renderer process
  target: 'electron-renderer',
  plugins: [
    new HtmlWebpackPlugin({
      template: './src/index.html',
    }),
    new webpack.DefinePlugin({
      'process.env.NODE_ENV': JSON.stringify('development'),
    }),
  ],

  // chooses a style of source mapping to enhance the debugging process
  // a source map maps the code a in a compressed file back to its original position in the source file.
  // major browsers have built-in support for source maps.
  devtool: 'cheap-source-map',
  devServer: {
    // specifies the directory of static files to be served
    contentBase: path.resolve(__dirname, 'dist'),
    stats: {
      colors: true,
      chunks: false,
      children: false,
    },
    // the before hook runs before the devServer starts and can be used to run node js code
    before() {
      spawn('electron', ['.'], { shell: true, env: process.env, stdio: 'inherit' })
        .on('close', code => process.exit(0))
        .on('error', spawnError => console.error(spawnError));
    },
  },
};