Overview

The create-appSimple boilerplate is a template that contains React and Express, along with the required dependencies and some useful ones. It comes with a folder structure consisting of a frontend (client) and a backend (server). This boilerplate also includes configuration files and libraries such as ESLint, Babel, and webpack to enhance the development experience. It provides a seamless setup for building web applications with React and Express.

Features

• Folder structure: Provides a clean folder structure with separate directories for the frontend and backend.

• ESLint: Utilizes ESLint to enforce coding styles and best practices. The boilerplate uses the airbnb rules with some modifications, but you can customize them according to your preferences.

• Prettier: Suggests using Prettier for code formatting to maintain consistent and clean code throughout the project.

• Babel: Includes Babel as a transpiler to enable the use of next generation JavaScript features, such as JSX.

• Index.html: Offers an index.html file as a template for the initial HTML page loaded by the browser. This file can be customized with additional content like Google Analytics scripts or meta tags.

• Dotenv: Supports the use of a .env file in the root directory to securely store environment variables. The .env file is automatically ignored by version control.

• Express-async-errors: Simplifies error handling in Express by allowing the error middleware to catch asynchronous errors. An example of custom error handling can be found in the messagesController.js file.

• Chokidar: Uses Chokidar to watch changes in backend files, preventing unnecessary rebuilds of the frontend when modifying backend files. Nodemon is used to restart the server when changes occur in the root directory.

• Webpack: Configures webpack for the frontend, enabling features such as hot loading in development mode, module aliasing (with module-alias), and file bundling with loaders for JavaScript, stylesheets, and other file types.

• jsconfig.json: Provides configuration for Visual Studio Code to enhance IntelliSense and understanding of imports in the project. It helps to improve the development experience by offering better autocomplete and support for module imports.

Installation

To install the create-appSimple boilerplate, follow these steps:

1. Clone the repository:

git clone <repository_url>

2. Navigate to the project folder:

cd create-appSimple

3. Install the dependencies:

npm install

4. Customize the ESLint rules in the .eslintrc file according to your preferences.

5. Customize the environment variables in the .env file located in the project root.

6. Start the development server:

npm start

7. Access the application in your browser at http://localhost:3000.

Summary

The create-appSimple boilerplate provides a comprehensive starting point for building web applications with React and Express. It simplifies the setup process by including all the necessary dependencies and configuration files. With features like ESLint, Babel, and webpack, it helps enforce coding standards, transpile modern JavaScript syntax, and bundle frontend assets. The ready-to-use folder structure and additional libraries like dotenv and Express-async-errors enhance the development experience and provide a solid foundation for building scalable and maintainable web applications.