Inconsistency in CLI generated webpack project configuration

[chrisckc]

I'm submitting a bug report

Current behavior:
Looking at the structure of a CLI generated project based on webpack, the webpack dev server client is added in both the index.ejs file and also in 'aurelia_project/tasks/run.ts' when HMR is used.

index.ejs contains this:

<% if (htmlWebpackPlugin.options.metadata.server) { %>
  <!-- Webpack Dev Server reload -->
  <script src="/webpack-dev-server.js"></script>
  <% } %>

run.ts contains this:

if (project.platform.hmr || CLIOptions.hasFlag('hmr')) {
    config.plugins.push(new webpack.HotModuleReplacementPlugin());
    config.entry.app.unshift(`webpack-dev-server/client?http://${opts.host}:${opts.port}/`, 'webpack/hot/dev-server');
  }

As a result of this, when HMR mode is used, the script entry in index.ejs becomes redundant.

The script entry should be removed from index.ejs and run.ts should be changed to this:

  if (project.platform.hmr || CLIOptions.hasFlag('hmr')) {
    config.plugins.push(new webpack.HotModuleReplacementPlugin());
    config.entry.app.unshift(`webpack-dev-server/client?http://${opts.host}:${opts.port}/`, 'webpack/hot/dev-server');
  } else {
    config.entry.app.unshift(`webpack-dev-server/client?http://${opts.host}:${opts.port}/`);
  }

This does not seem to cause a problem out of the box, but when attempting to run Aurelia from a subpath off the root, the redundant script entry produces an unnecessary complication.

• What is the expected behavior?
  The generated config to be more consistent

• What is the motivation / use case for changing the behavior?
  Provide a better development experience for more advanced scenarios

[chrisckc]

It should also incorporate the change i am suggesting here: #967

[chrisckc]

It looks like it can also be simplified because according to the webpack v4 docs it is not necessary to add the "HotModuleReplacementPlugin" as it is done automatically when webpack is launched with the --hot option, which happens in package-scripts.js
https://webpack.js.org/configuration/dev-server/#devserver-hot

[Alexander-Taran]

Would you like to provide a pull request for it @chaskim ?

[chrisckc]

No problem, ill get on to it next week.
Btw. I tried removing the HotModuleReplacementPlugin as indicated could be possible in the webpack docs, but it broke hmr, so i guess that statement in the webpack docs in incorrect.

[EisenbergEffect]

Fixed