How to Effectively Manage jQuery Plugin Dependencies with Webpack?

How to Manage jQuery Plugin Dependencies in Webpack

When using webpack, it's common to organize application code and libraries into separate bundles. For instance, one might create a "bundle.js" for all custom code and a "vendors.js" for libraries such as jQuery and React. However, challenges arise when incorporating plugins that depend on jQuery and are desired within "vendors.js."

ProvidePlugin: Global Variable Injection

One approach is to utilize the ProvidePlugin, which injects implicit globals when encountering specific identifiers, such as "$" or "jQuery." By configuring webpack, one can instruct it to prepend "var $" when encountering "$" globally.

Example:

plugins: [
    new webpack.ProvidePlugin({
        $: "jquery",
        jQuery: "jquery"
    })
]

imports-loader: This Binding Configuration

The imports-loader allows manual variable injection. Some legacy modules assume the presence of "this" as the window object, which can conflict with CommonJS contexts where "this" equates to "module.exports." The imports-loader can override this behavior and bind "this" to the window object.

Example:

module: {
    loaders: [
        {
            test: /[\/\]node_modules[\/\]some-module[\/\]index\.js$/,
            loader: "imports-loader?this=>window"
        }
    ]
}

imports-loader: AMD Disabling

Certain modules support multiple module styles, including AMD and CommonJS. However, they may prioritize define and employ unconventional exporting methods. This can be circumvented by forcing CommonJS by setting "define = false" with the imports-loader.

Example:

module: {
    loaders: [
        {
            test: /[\/\]node_modules[\/\]some-module[\/\]index\.js$/,
            loader: "imports-loader?define=>false"
        }
    ]
}

script-loader: Global Script Importation

If global variables are not a concern and simply executing legacy scripts is the objective, the script-loader can be used. It runs modules within a global context, akin to using a