Rollup.js is a module bundler for JavaScript applications, similar to Webpack or Parcel. It focuses on generating smaller bundle sizes and increasing performance through tree-shaking, code splitting, and other optimizations. While Rollup.js is commonly used in traditional JavaScript projects, integrating it with SSGs can provide additional benefits.

To integrate Rollup.js with Gatsby or Next.js, we need to follow a few simple steps.

Step 1: Set up a Rollup.js configuration file

Create a rollup.config.js file in the root directory of your project. This file will contain the Rollup.js configuration, specifying entry points, output paths, and any necessary plugins.

import { nodeResolve } from '@rollup/plugin-node-resolve';
import commonjs from '@rollup/plugin-commonjs';
import { terser } from 'rollup-plugin-terser';

export default {
  input: 'src/main.js',
  output: {
    file: 'public/bundle.js',
    format: 'esm',
  },
  plugins: [
    nodeResolve(),
    commonjs(),
    terser(),
  ],
};

In this example, we use the @rollup/plugin-node-resolve plugin to resolve dependencies from node_modules, @rollup/plugin-commonjs to support CommonJS modules, and rollup-plugin-terser to minify the output bundle.

Step 2: Configure your SSG to use the Rollup.js bundle

For Gatsby, you can use the gatsby-plugin-rollup plugin to configure Rollup.js.

// gatsby-config.js
module.exports = {
  plugins: ['gatsby-plugin-rollup'],
};

Next.js doesn’t have an official Rollup.js integration, but you can integrate it manually using a custom build script or by configuring the Next.js webpack configuration.

Step 3: Build and use the Rollup.js bundle

After setting up the Rollup.js configuration and integrating it with your SSG, you can now build and use the Rollup.js bundle in your project.

For Gatsby, run the command:

gatsby build

For Next.js, run the command:

next build

These commands will trigger the respective SSG’s build process, which will also include the Rollup.js bundling process. The Rollup.js bundle will be generated according to the configuration set in the rollup.config.js file.

Conclusion

By integrating Rollup.js with static site generators like Gatsby and Next.js, you can harness the power of Rollup’s optimized bundling techniques and enhance your build process. This can result in smaller bundle sizes, improved performance, and better overall user experience on your static websites.

Give it a try and see how Rollup.js can supercharge your static site generation workflow!

#webdevelopment #rollup #gatsby #nextjs