How To Use Webpack 4 Splitchunksplugin With Htmlwebpackplugin For Multiple Page Application

Webpack 4 is a powerful tool that helps developers manage and bundle their front-end assets efficiently. One of the key features of Webpack 4 is the SplitChunksPlugin, which allows you to split your code into separate chunks to optimize performance. When combined with the HtmlWebpackPlugin, you can easily create multiple page applications with Webpack 4.

To start using the SplitChunksPlugin with HtmlWebpackPlugin for a multiple page application, you first need to install both plugins in your project. You can do this by running the following commands in your terminal:

npm install --save-dev webpack webpack-cli webpack-dev-server html-webpack-plugin mini-css-extract-plugin

Next, create a webpack.config.js file in the root of your project with the following configuration:

const path = require('path');
const HtmlWebpackPlugin = require('html-webpack-plugin');

module.exports = {
  entry: {
    main: './src/index.js',
    page1: './src/page1.js',
    page2: './src/page2.js',
  },
  output: {
    filename: '[name].bundle.js',
    path: path.resolve(__dirname, 'dist')
  },
  optimization: {
    splitChunks: {
      chunks: 'all'
    }
  },
  plugins: [
    new HtmlWebpackPlugin({
      template: './src/index.html',
      filename: 'index.html',
      chunks: ['main']
    }),
    new HtmlWebpackPlugin({
      template: './src/page1.html',
      filename: 'page1.html',
      chunks: ['page1']
    }),
    new HtmlWebpackPlugin({
      template: './src/page2.html',
      filename: 'page2.html',
      chunks: ['page2']
    })
  ]
};

In this configuration, we specify the entry points for our different pages and set up the output path for the bundled files. The optimization section includes the splitChunks configuration to enable code splitting. We also define the HtmlWebpackPlugin instances for each page, specifying the template and output filename, as well as which chunks to include in each page.

Once your webpack configuration is set up, you can create your HTML templates for each page. Make sure to include the necessary script tags to load the correct bundle for each page.

To build your project, you can run the following command:

npx webpack

Webpack will generate the bundled files for each page in the dist folder. You can then serve your application using a static server or the webpack-dev-server to test it locally.

By using the SplitChunksPlugin with HtmlWebpackPlugin, you can efficiently manage your code splitting and easily create a multiple page application with Webpack 4. This setup helps improve loading times and overall performance of your web application, making it a valuable addition to your front-end development toolkit.