hot-server
No config hot reloading for sketching with code.
Instructions
Install:
npm install -g hot-server
Serve directory statically:
hot-server
Save changes to *.js or *.css and they'll be injected via a websocket without a full refresh.
Since your whole script file reruns, you'll probably want to clean up anything it adds to the page with something like var svg = d3.select('#graph').html('').append('svg'). Stopping any timers and clearing any listeners that don't reset is also a good idea:
if (window.timer) timer.stop()
window.timer = d3.timer(function(t){
// cool animation code
})
To persist data between refreshes, declare and initialize your data in a separate file from the rest of your code. Only the changed file will rerun. Or only initialize your data on the first run:
window.points = window.points || d3.range(50)
.map(d => [Math.random()*width, Math.random()*height])
Default port is 3989; hot-server --port=4444 sets the port.
hot-server --dir=build sets the directory to serve.
hot-server --ignore=data-raw skips watching a folder.
hot-server --consoleclear runs console.clear() after js files are changed.
hot-server --cert=../../cert/localhost.pem passes in a certificate and enables https.
Is this the right tool for me?
If you're building an actual webapp, maybe not! This is a naive approach to hot reloading that will not work with more complicated code. Webpack or Parcel might be a better option:
- Webpack Hot Module Replacement
- Live React: Hot Reloading with Time Travel
- Live Editing JavaScript with Webpack (Part III)
Or a even a different language:
But! If you're mostly working on short, simple pieces and dislike yak shaving config files this might be a good fit. It is as simple to use as python -m http.server with the added benefit of seemly magically updating pages without a refresh.
The implementation is also simple—just 60 lines of code for the server and 10 for the client—and you might be able to re-purpose it. I incorporated a modified version into a slow make/requirejs/grunt build system and reduced the time it took to see the result of changing my code from ~6 seconds to 0.