Question 1

How do I use electron-reloader with Webpack?

Accepted Answer

Add your source directory to the ignore option in the configuration; electron-reloader will watch the dist directory, so when Webpack rebuilds files, it detects changes and triggers reloads automatically.

Question 2

electron-reloader vs electron-hot-reloader: which should I use?

Accepted Answer

electron-reloader is simpler and focuses on full reloads for both processes, while electron-hot-reloader often offers HMR for state preservation in renderers; choose based on whether you need incremental updates or just basic auto-reloading.

Question 3

Does it work with TypeScript in the main process?

Accepted Answer

No, as per the README, it won't work correctly if main process files are transpiled; you must compile TypeScript to JavaScript first, or use alternative tools that handle transpilation-aware watching.

Question 4

How can I ignore certain files from triggering reloads?

Accepted Answer

Use the ignore option in the API with patterns passed to Chokidar, such as regex or strings, to exclude specific files or directories, which is additive to the default ignores like node_modules.

Question 5

Can I disable reloading for the renderer process only?

Accepted Answer

Yes, set the watchRenderer option to false in the configuration; this is useful if you're using a different reload strategy like HMR for the renderer, as mentioned in the README.

Question 6

What's the performance impact on large Electron apps?

Accepted Answer

It uses Chokidar for file watching, which can handle many files but may add overhead in large codebases; optimize by setting precise ignore patterns to limit watched paths and reduce resource usage.

electron-reloader

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