Why Use Sojourn?

Sojourn is a webpack toolchain which embraces a handful of tools, prebuilt to give you a quick way to jump into creating fantastic React-based software.

Clone it, annihilate its git history, and live code your way to ideation.

Modern tooling

All contained tools are handled by way preconfigured webpack-based build system that mixes ES6, React, and Sass support together. The aim is to get as many conveniences underway as possible so that the next person can just browse this documentation as they need it, but more or less hop in and be immediately productive.

Live code it

Over the last few years a lot of work has been put into augmenting the development experience for browser-based applications. It's a whole new world. Sojourn is an ongoing work which seeks to incorporate as many conveniences as possible, in an easy to understand way.

One of the most incredible things the open source javascript community has concocted is an idea of hot-reloading applications. It's completely different to build with hot-loading tools.

Out of the box, Sojourn gives you this setup. It does have some nuance, and a few gotchas, but for the most part any CSS and React pieces you change will immediately take effect on a browser, while you're running in dev mode (npm run dev).

As an added bonus, Sojourn also includes full support for Redux Devtools, meaning that if you build things with the Redux style of singular state trees, you'll be able to do powerful things, such as rewind/replay your state, see diff changes, chart your state tree, etc.

And all of this without hitting refresh, in most cases.

In big, friendly bullet point format:

  • Live coding: All CSS and React component changes hot-load in your browser, so you can live code with minimal refreshing.
  • Babel: Use the cutting edge of Javascript with no hassle
  • React: Declare fast-rendering, stateless interfaces
  • Sass: CSS with logic, variables, and control flow
  • Bourbon: Sensible sass defaults and functions to get you styling fast

Testing convenience comes pre-installed, too:

  • Mocha & Chai: A highly flexible testing interface so you can test just like you want. Although it starts with a describe/it/expect syntax, and a spec style suite runner, both tools are versatile and simple to configure.
  • Persistent specs with notifications: Keep your attention on your code and let your tests notify you when something goes wrong. Tests can be started and then backgrounded, and notifications will update you from time to time.

Want to get started now?

Just check out our Installation process to see how.