Essential Grunt Tips
If you remember a couple of days ago, I introduced you to Grunt. Grunt may be officially termed as the “JavaScript task runner” but it is actually the “JavaScript-based task runner. The tool allows you to develop tasks using JavaScript for almost any development project, even WordPress plugins. It has been used in simplifying the development of a large number of WP plugins. The following guide gives you valuable tips on working with grunt.js and making the most out of it.
Important Grunt Plugins
Grunt adds functionality by using plugins. The most commonly used plugins are Load Grunt Tasks, PHPLint, Time Grunt, Sass, Uglify, and Watch. All grunt.js tasks are managed in separate files for simplifying maintenance. These plugins are initialized during configuration. This means the plugins will do most of the task.
PHPLint – This plugin validates PHP code and informs you about any missed issues. It will automatically check and notify the issues before a new update is released.
Load Grunt Tasks Plugin- This plugin will automatically load all the tasks. When a task-based plugin gets installed, it will be ready to function.
Time Grunt – This plugin gives you feedback on the duration the tasks will take to run. It can provide you information about where bottlenecks may occur. It may be optional but it is quite useful. The structure of t plugin is defined by creating a single path variable. This helps facilitate access of assets in different tasks, enabling structural modifications to be instantly reflected in all the tasks.
JSHint – JSHint will check the JavaScript code for any issues. These issues are easy to miss when making modifications or adding features. JSHint alerts you about these issues so that you could fix them.
Sass – Sass is a CSS preprocessor that enables you to create stylesheets faster and easily. In Sass you will find almost everything you will require in CSS. It has variables, nesting and functions. When using Sass, it is important to compile the files into CSS before using them on web pages. Grunt has a special plugin for this task.
The Sass plugin is one of the most important features of Grunt. This plugin is capable of compiling Sass much faster into CSS as compared to the conventional Ruby-based compiler. This is where you will realize the importance and convenience offered by grunt.js.
Conclusion: Grunt Tips
It is recommended to use these Grunt plugins for making the most out of grunt.js. They can run tasks efficiently, saving you time and effort. Coming soon, we’ll post some advanced Grunt tips, talking about scripts and tasks that will make life easier. Do you have any Grunt tips that make your life easier? Please share them with other readers below.