npm as a Build Tool

Grunt and Gulp are the heavyweights in the JavaScript build tool landscape. These tools can automate minifying, concatenating, running tests and compiling code. But do you need them? npm scripts can do everything these build tools can with less package dependencies and less maintenance overhead.

Grunt and Gulp are the heavyweights in the JavaScript build tool landscape. These tools can automate almost anything you find yourself doing repeatedly in a project, from minifying and concatenating source files, to running tests or compiling code. But the question is, do you need them? npm’s script directive can do everything that these build tools can, more succinctly, more elegantly, with less package dependencies and less maintenance overhead. In this session I will discuss what npm is capable of as a build tool.