htmltitle: The State of Grunt class: center, middle, title # The State of Grunt ## August 2014  .right[ “Cowboy” Ben Alman Bocoup ] --- class: center, middle, orange .footer[The State of Grunt] # About Grunt --- class: orange .footer[The State of Grunt - About Grunt] # Why does Grunt exist? -- ## To automate repetitive tasks in very small projects. -- ### (like jQuery plugins) --- class: brown .footer[The State of Grunt - About Grunt] # Why _doesn't_ Grunt exist? -- ## To reinvent the wheel. -- ### Grunt isn't just “make” in JavaScript. It was built to solve some very specific problems. --- class: center, middle, orange .footer[The State of Grunt] # Grunt Today --- class: orange .footer[The State of Grunt - Grunt Today] # How is Grunt actually used? -- * To automate all the things -- * To build very small to immensely gigantic projects -- * To deploy code to production -- * To run development web servers --- class: brown .footer[The State of Grunt - Grunt Today] # Who uses Grunt? -- ### Bocoup -- , Google, -- Facebook, -- Twitter, -- Microsoft, -- Mozilla, Opera, Yahoo, Adobe, WordPress, NPR, -- New York Times, PayPal, Walmart, Dropbox, Victoria's Secret, Cloudant, SauceLabs -- ### jQuery, MooTools, Modernizr, Angular, Marionette, Polymer, Enyo, React, Knockout, Bootstrap, Ractive, ZURB Foundation -- ### Basically, everyone. --- class: .footer[The State of Grunt - Grunt Today] # How much is Grunt used? -- .smaller[ ### Grunt * 25,000 downloads each day * 5.7 million downloads total ] -- .smaller[ ### Grunt CLI .smaller[(Command-Line Interface)] * 17,000 downloads each day * 4.5 million downloads total ] _Data from http://npm-stat.com/ as of August 21, 2014._ --- class: .footer[The State of Grunt - Grunt Today] # What does this mean? -- .smaller[ * In a typical Grunt-based dev workflow, the CLI is installed once per system, while the lib is installed once per project. ] -- .smaller[ * The relatively high proportion of CLI installs implies that many devs are using Continuous Integration, where both the CLI and core lib get installed every time. ] -- ## This is a very good thing! --- class: orange .footer[The State of Grunt - Current Grunt] # Grunt Successes -- .smaller[.smaller[ * It can be installed/run wherever Node.js can be installed ]] -- .smaller[.smaller[ * The config and tasks are written in JavaScript (or CoffeeScript) ]] -- .smaller[.smaller[ * Declarative configuration seems to be easier for non-programmers to approach and understand ]] -- .smaller[.smaller[ * Task config with options merging is consistent and predictable ]] -- .smaller[.smaller[ * It can watch the filesystem for changes and LiveReload ]] -- .smaller[.smaller[ * There are thousands of community-authored plugins, which are really just packaged and distributed tasks ]] -- .smaller[.smaller[ * The tasks and file API is synchronous, reducing barrier to entry ]] -- .smaller[.smaller[ * It behaves like other command-line utilities ]] --- class: brown .footer[The State of Grunt - Current Grunt] # Secondary Benefits -- .smaller[.smaller[ * Grunt has become the “gateway” for non-devs and reluctant devs to Node, JavaScript and process automation ]] -- .smaller[.smaller[ * Testing and building JavaScript projects has become much easier ]] -- .smaller[.smaller[ * Windows users get to more easily participate in “Open Source” development ]] -- .smaller[.smaller[ * Node developers better understand the value of locally installed modules (I know I certainly do) ]] -- .smaller[.smaller[ * Tool authors are now creating a separate lightweight global CLI for their locally-installed lib ]] -- .smaller[.smaller[ * There's now an ongoing conversation about process automation in the web developer community ]] --- class: orange .footer[The State of Grunt - Current Grunt] # Grunt Not-So Successes -- .smaller[.smaller[ * There's currently no good way for tasks to communicate with each other, other than through temporary files ]] -- .smaller[.smaller[ * Plugins don't feel “node-like” ]] -- .smaller[.smaller[ * Task flow control isn't granular enough ]] -- .smaller[.smaller[ * Error handling and reporting could be improved ]] -- .smaller[.smaller[ * Bundling and exposing dependencies is a maintenance nightmare ]] -- .smaller[.smaller[ * Because the codebase grew organically, it's hard to maintain ]] --- class: center, middle, brown .footer[The State of Grunt] # Future Grunt --- class: center, middle, brown .footer[The State of Grunt - Future Grunt] ## First, please note that these are our _goals_. Nothing is set in stone. --- class: center, middle, orange .footer[The State of Grunt - Future Grunt] # The Grunt codebase is already being rewritten to be more modular and maintainable. --- class: center, middle, brown .footer[The State of Grunt - Future Grunt] # Grunt will focus on running tasks and being easy to configure and learn. --- class: center, middle, orange .footer[The State of Grunt - Future Grunt] # Grunt will support existing 0.4.x plugins via _optional_ adapter, and will also support Gulp and Broccoli plugins. --- class: center, middle, brown .footer[The State of Grunt - Future Grunt] # Grunt tasks will support both stream-based and promise-based input/output. --- class: center, middle, orange .footer[The State of Grunt - Future Grunt] # Grunt will support tasks and “pipelines” that can be run in series or parallel. --- class: center, middle, brown .footer[The State of Grunt - Future Grunt] # All Grunt task running and file I/O will be asynchronous. _(under the hood)_ --- class: center, middle, orange .footer[The State of Grunt - Future Grunt] # Grunt logging will offer redirectable, per-task streams. --- class: center, middle, brown .footer[The State of Grunt - Future Grunt] # Error handling and reporting in Grunt will be improved. --- class: center, middle, orange .footer[The State of Grunt - Future Grunt] # Watching files for changes will be built-in to Grunt. --- class: center, middle .footer[The State of Grunt] # Final Thoughts --- class: .footer[The State of Grunt - Final Thoughts] # Grunt vs the Alternatives -- ### Grunt - _“The JavaScript Task Runner”_ Grunt wants to help you automate repetitive tasks via declarative configuration. -- ### Gulp - _“The streaming build system”_ Gulp wants to help you build your project efficiently using streams. -- ### Broccoli - _“Fast client-side asset builder”_ Broccoli wants to help you build large projects with many files, fast. --- class: .footer[The State of Grunt - Final Thoughts] # Grunt vs the Alternatives ### Grunt - _“The JavaScript Task Runner”_ ### Gulp - _“The streaming build system”_ ### Broccoli - _“Fast client-side asset builder”_ > They're actually all good options. As long as you're using SOMETHING, you're ahead of the game! --- class: orange .footer[The State of Grunt - Final Thoughts] # How Can You Help? -- .smaller[ * Keep using Grunt, reporting issues, making screencasts and writing tutorials ] -- .smaller[ * Before deciding on Grunt vs Gulp vs Broccoli vs something else in your project, think about your needs and experiment ] -- .smaller[ * Teach newbies how to use Grunt ] -- .smaller[ * Give a talk at a meetup or conference ] --- .footer[The State of Grunt] # Talk To Us .smaller[ * [gruntjs.com “Getting Started” guide](http://gruntjs.com/getting-started) * [@gruntjs on Twitter](https://twitter.com/gruntjs) * [\#gruntjs on irc.freenode.net](http://webchat.freenode.net/) ### (Thanks!) ] .right[ “Cowboy” Ben Alman Bocoup ]