grunt-contrib-connect

What is grunt-contrib-connect?

grunt-contrib-connect is a Grunt plugin that provides a simple web server for serving static files. It is commonly used in development workflows to serve files, enable live reloading, and proxy requests to other servers.

What are grunt-contrib-connect's main functionalities?

Serve Static Files

This feature allows you to serve static files from a specified directory. In this example, the server runs on port 9000 and serves files from the 'public' directory.

json
{
  "connect": {
    "server": {
      "options": {
        "port": 9000,
        "base": "public"
      }
    }
  }
}

Live Reload

This feature enables live reloading of the web page when files change. The server is configured to use live reload, and the watch task monitors changes in the 'public' directory.

json
{
  "connect": {
    "server": {
      "options": {
        "port": 9000,
        "base": "public",
        "livereload": true
      }
    }
  },
  "watch": {
    "options": {
      "livereload": true
    },
    "files": [
      "public/**/*"
    ]
  }
}

Proxy Requests

This feature allows you to proxy requests to another server. In this example, requests to '/api' are proxied to 'api.example.com' on port 80.

json
{
  "connect": {
    "server": {
      "options": {
        "port": 9000,
        "base": "public",
        "middleware": function(connect, options, middlewares) {
          middlewares.unshift(require('grunt-connect-proxy/lib/utils').proxyRequest);
          return middlewares;
        }
      },
      "proxies": [
        {
          "context": "/api",
          "host": "api.example.com",
          "port": 80
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Other packages similar to grunt-contrib-connect

http-server

http-server is a simple, zero-configuration command-line HTTP server. It is similar to grunt-contrib-connect in that it serves static files, but it is a standalone tool and does not require Grunt.

live-server

live-server is a simple development HTTP server with live reload capability. It is similar to grunt-contrib-connect's live reload feature but is a standalone tool that does not require Grunt.

browser-sync

browser-sync is a powerful tool for synchronizing browser testing. It provides live reloading, CSS injection, and synchronized browser testing. It offers more features compared to grunt-contrib-connect but can be used alongside Grunt.

README

The README file is missing