Build an Isomorphic Application Using Deno and React Without WebPack

Deepak Vishwakarma
The Startup
Published in
9 min readAug 8, 2020

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Currently setting up a Server Side Render (SSR) application is a pain in nodejs. There are many scaffolds available for nodejs. But it comes with its own tech-depth and learning curves. This also includes hidden configurations of Webpack.

All in all, when you give Webpack a chance, your encounter will rarely be a pleasant one.

Read More: https://www.north-47.com/knowledge-base/webpack-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/

1. Overview

According to the wiki, An isomorphic JavaScript(also known as Universal JavaScript) is described as JavaScript application that run both on the client and the server.

https://unsplash.com/photos/c_Hi3DzlC0g

If I say, you can build an entire SSR without setting up installing any external nodejs dependency. Would you believe it? I guess NO.

However, In this tutorial, I will explain how to set up a simple SSR app without installing a single nodejs library or bundler. That also including a hydrate react app(isomorphic app).

2. Set-up

a. Start an app with npm inits: Don’t be afraid, To do things differently, we will not install any nodejs libraries. However, I still like npm as a task runner. So let’s use it. Create a folder SSR and init npm package.json

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Deepak Vishwakarma
The Startup

I am a polyglot Blockchain Developer. Mainly work on JavaScript and Nodejs. I work for a multinational Bank as Tech Lead to define the best architecture.