Automate JavaScript with Open Source Tools

Automate JavaScript with Open Source Tools

If you are concerned with having secure and up to date code and don’t have unlimited time to spend testing your code, automation tools are a must have for developers.  Recently JavaScript developers have been in high demand and for anyone interested in taking advantage of that expanding market should get to know the tools that already exist to make configuring your system and finishing your work faster and easier. The JavaScript language relies on libraries that are contained within dependencies that are continually updated and need to be downloaded as they are released.  It is possible to collect and install these files manually but package managers like Bower and Npm can reduce the process to typing a few lines of code. The actual process of development is made much easier by a simple extension for Google Chrome called LiveReload will save you the trouble of having to refresh the page every time changes are made to your source code.  LiveReload can be used in conjunction with the automation tool Grunt for live updates to your webpage that can be seen while you edit your code. Grunt and its competitor Gulp are both great optimization tools.  For a developer who needs more customization options at the expense of a slightly heavier program, Grunt is for you.  Gulp has all of the same computing power without the tinkering. Here is a quick tutorial from the Pragmatic Bookshelf, a developer training website on using Grunt in conjunction with Livereload.   There are automation tools for use on the front end that can save time as well.  Launch Effect is a WordPress...