Running Rails server
In an earlier chapter, we had set up a basic Rails server. There we ran the
Rails server from the terminal using the bundle exec rails server -p 3000
command.
We can also use an alias, that is s for server, in the above mentioned
command to run a Rails server in the shortened format, like this:
The p flag is used to specify the PORT number on which the server will run.
In this case the PORT number is 3000.
Merely running the Rails server for an application which also uses Webpack to
compile JavaScript assets and related files can cause performance issues and
slow down the overall development process.
Thus we should compile Webpack related files separately.
Using Webpack development server
We will run the rails server command in one terminal and the
webpacker-dev-server command in another terminal.
Open a new terminal tab or window. In the "Terminal" app in macOS you can do so
using command + T keys for a new tab and command + N keys for a new terminal
window.
Once a new terminal is open, run the following command:
webpacker-dev-server is an executable file which resides inside the bin
folder. Running the above command will start the Webpack development server and
Shakapacker will automatically proxy all Webpack asset requests to this server.
Running the application
So to summarize, whenever testing out a Rails application in development
environment, open the Rails server in one terminal and webpacker-dev-server in
another. Thus when stopping the application, you will have to exit from both
these terminals.
If you're still not convinced on the advantages of using webpacker-dev-server,
then give the last two
in-depth sections
within the book a read and come back. Those sections might be pretty
complicated. That's why it's towards the end of the book. There's no issue if
you don't read it now.
There is nothing to be committed in this chapter.