Building Your Own Application: Crafting Custom Nx Workspaces Without Generators
Nx, the powerful build system and developer tools for monorepos, provides a wealth of generators for rapidly creating applications, libraries, and other project components. But what happens when you need something unique, something that doesn't fit neatly into a pre-existing generator? This article will guide you through the process of manually building your own application within an Nx workspace, empowering you to work with custom project structures and configurations.
The Scenario: Embracing the Unknown
Let's imagine you're building a project that demands a specific architecture: an application with a distinct frontend, backend, and a shared library for common functionality. While Nx offers generators for individual application types, a streamlined, unified setup for this particular structure might not be readily available.
Here's where manual creation comes into play. We'll demonstrate the steps involved in creating a custom application structure within your Nx workspace.
The Blueprint: Setting the Foundation
We'll start by laying the groundwork for our application structure. Let's assume our project will be named my-app and will consist of my-app-frontend, my-app-backend, and my-app-shared as its core components.
# Create a new Nx workspace
npx create-nx-workspace@latest my-app --preset=empty
# Navigate to the workspace directory
cd my-app
# Create the frontend, backend, and shared library directories
mkdir my-app-frontend my-app-backend my-app-shared
Building Blocks: Crafting the Components
Now, let's flesh out each component with its essential files:
- my-app-frontend:
package.json: Defines dependencies, scripts, and other project-specific configurations.index.html: The main HTML file of the application.main.ts: The entry point for the frontend application.tsconfig.app.json: TypeScript compiler options specifically for the frontend.
- my-app-backend:
package.json: Similar to the frontend, this file houses project-specific configuration.index.ts: The entry point for the backend application.tsconfig.app.json: TypeScript compiler options for the backend.
- my-app-shared:
package.json: Defines dependencies and configuration for the shared library.index.ts: The main export file for the shared library.tsconfig.lib.json: TypeScript compiler options for the shared library.
Connecting the Dots: Weaving the Workspace
Finally, we need to connect these components within the Nx workspace. This involves configuring Nx to recognize and manage these custom projects:
- Update
workspace.json:- Add each project as a new entry within the
projectssection. - Define the project type, root, and source root for each component.
- Add each project as a new entry within the
- Update
nx.json:- Configure build, test, and other target configurations for each project.
- Define dependencies between projects (e.g., frontend depending on shared library).
Running the Show: Bringing It to Life
With the foundation laid, we can now start building our application. Nx provides commands to run, build, and test each component individually. For example, to build the frontend:
nx build my-app-frontend
Beyond the Basics: Extending the Power
This guide has presented the core steps for creating a custom application in Nx without relying on generators. However, there's much more you can do:
- Custom Generators: While we've built our application manually, you can create custom generators for this specific architecture to streamline future project creation.
- Nx Plugins: Enhance the functionalities of your Nx workspace by leveraging custom plugins for specialized tasks.
- Advanced Configuration: Dive deeper into Nx's configuration options to fine-tune build processes, dependency management, and other aspects of your workflow.
Conclusion: Embracing Flexibility and Customization
Building applications in Nx without using pre-existing generators allows for exceptional flexibility and customization. By understanding the core principles of Nx workspace configuration, you can tailor your projects to meet specific requirements and achieve your desired architecture. With the power of manual setup and advanced tools like custom generators and plugins, you're well-equipped to unleash the full potential of Nx in your development journey.
