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Preact+HTM

This tutorial will guide you through building a Preact+HTM SSR application from scratch using the Esmx framework. We'll demonstrate how to create a server-side rendered application through a complete example.

Project Structure

First, let's examine the basic project structure:

1.
2├── package.json         # Project configuration file defining dependencies and scripts
3├── tsconfig.json        # TypeScript configuration file with compilation options
4└── src                  # Source code directory
5    ├── app.ts           # Main application component defining page structure and logic
6    ├── create-app.ts    # Application instance factory for initialization
7    ├── entry.client.ts  # Client entry file handling browser-side rendering
8    ├── entry.node.ts    # Node.js server entry file for dev environment setup
9    └── entry.server.ts  # Server entry file handling SSR rendering logic

Project Configuration

package.json

Create the package.json file to configure project dependencies and scripts:

package.json

1{
2  "name": "ssr-demo-preact-htm",
3  "version": "1.0.0",
4  "type": "module",
5  "private": true,
6  "scripts": {
7    "dev": "esmx dev",
8    "build": "npm run build:dts && npm run build:ssr",
9    "build:ssr": "esmx build",
10    "preview": "esmx preview",
11    "start": "NODE_ENV=production node dist/index.mjs",
12    "build:dts": "tsc --declaration --emitDeclarationOnly --outDir dist/src"
13  },
14  "dependencies": {
15    "@esmx/core": "*"
16  },
17  "devDependencies": {
18    "@esmx/rspack": "*",
19    "@types/node": "22.8.6",
20    "htm": "^3.1.1",
21    "preact": "^10.26.2",
22    "preact-render-to-string": "^6.5.13",
23    "typescript": "^5.2.2"
24  }
25}

After creating the package.json file, install project dependencies using any of these commands:

1pnpm install
2# or
3yarn install
4# or
5npm install

This will install all required dependencies including Preact, HTM, TypeScript, and SSR-related packages.

tsconfig.json

Create the tsconfig.json file to configure TypeScript compilation options:

tsconfig.json

1{
2    "compilerOptions": {
3        "isolatedModules": true,
4        "experimentalDecorators": true,
5        "resolveJsonModule": true,
6        "types": [
7            "@types/node"
8        ],
9        "target": "ESNext",
10        "module": "ESNext",
11        "moduleResolution": "node",
12        "strict": true,
13        "skipLibCheck": true,
14        "allowSyntheticDefaultImports": true,
15        "paths": {
16            "ssr-demo-preact-htm/src/*": [
17                "./src/*"
18            ],
19            "ssr-demo-preact-htm/*": [
20                "./*"
21            ]
22        }
23    },
24    "include": [
25        "src"
26    ],
27    "exclude": [
28        "dist"
29    ]
30}

Source Code Structure

app.ts

Create the main application component src/app.ts using Preact class components with HTM:

src/app.ts

1/**
2 * @file Example component
3 * @description Demonstrates a page title with auto-updating time, showcasing basic Esmx framework functionality
4 */
5
6import { Component } from 'preact';
7import { html } from 'htm/preact';
8
9export default class App extends Component {
10    state = {
11        time: new Date().toISOString()
12    };
13
14    timer: NodeJS.Timeout | null = null;
15
16    componentDidMount() {
17        this.timer = setInterval(() => {
18            this.setState({
19                time: new Date().toISOString()
20            });
21        }, 1000);
22    }
23
24    componentWillUnmount() {
25        if (this.timer) {
26            clearInterval(this.timer);
27        }
28    }
29
30    render() {
31        const { time } = this.state;
32        return html`
33            <div>
34                <h1><a href="https://www.esmnext.com/guide/frameworks/preact-htm.html" target="_blank">Esmx Quick Start</a></h1>
35                <time datetime=${time}>${time}</time>
36            </div>
37        `;
38    }
39}

create-app.ts

Create src/create-app.ts to handle application instance creation:

src/create-app.ts

1/**
2 * @file Application instance creation
3 * @description Handles creating and configuring application instances
4 */
5
6import type { VNode } from 'preact';
7import { html } from 'htm/preact';
8import App from './app';
9
10export function createApp(): { app: VNode } {
11    const app = html`<${App} />`;
12    return {
13        app
14    };
15}

entry.client.ts

Create the client entry file src/entry.client.ts:

src/entry.client.ts

1/**
2 * @file Client entry file
3 * @description Handles client-side interaction logic and dynamic updates
4 */
5
6import { render } from 'preact';
7import { createApp } from './create-app';
8
9// Create application instance
10const { app } = createApp();
11
12// Mount application instance
13render(app, document.getElementById('app')!);

entry.node.ts

Create entry.node.ts to configure the development environment and server startup:

src/entry.node.ts

1/**
2 * @file Node.js server entry file
3 * @description Configures development environment and server startup, providing SSR runtime
4 */
5
6import http from 'node:http';
7import type { EsmxOptions } from '@esmx/core';
8
9export default {
10    /**
11     * Configures development environment application creator
12     * @description Creates and configures Rspack application instance for development builds and HMR
13     * @param esmx Esmx framework instance providing core functionality
14     * @returns Configured Rspack application instance with HMR support
15     */
16    async devApp(esmx) {
17        return import('@esmx/rspack').then((m) =>
18            m.createRspackHtmlApp(esmx, {
19                config(context) {
20                    // Custom Rspack compilation configuration can be added here
21                }
22            })
23        );
24    },
25
26    /**
27     * Configures and starts HTTP server
28     * @description Creates HTTP server instance with Esmx middleware for SSR requests
29     * @param esmx Esmx framework instance providing middleware and rendering
30     */
31    async server(esmx) {
32        const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
33            // Process requests with Esmx middleware
34            esmx.middleware(req, res, async () => {
35                // Perform server-side rendering
36                const rc = await esmx.render({
37                    params: { url: req.url }
38                });
39                res.end(rc.html);
40            });
41        });
42
43        server.listen(3000, () => {
44            console.log('Server started: http://localhost:3000');
45        });
46    }
47} satisfies EsmxOptions;

This file serves as the entry point for development environment configuration and server startup, containing two core functions:

devApp: Creates and configures the Rspack application instance for development with HMR support.
server: Creates and configures the HTTP server with Esmx middleware for SSR requests.

entry.server.ts

Create the server-side rendering entry file src/entry.server.ts:

src/entry.server.ts

1/**
2 * @file Server-side rendering entry file
3 * @description Handles SSR workflow, HTML generation and resource injection
4 */
5
6import type { RenderContext } from '@esmx/core';
7import type { VNode } from 'preact';
8import { render } from 'preact-render-to-string';
9import { createApp } from './create-app';
10
11export default async (rc: RenderContext) => {
12    // Create application instance
13    const { app } = createApp();
14
15    // Generate page content using Preact's renderToString
16    const html = render(app);
17
18    // Commit dependency collection to ensure all required resources are loaded
19    await rc.commit();
20
21    // Generate complete HTML structure
22    rc.html = `<!DOCTYPE html>
23<html lang="en">
24<head>
25    ${rc.preload()}
26    <title>Esmx Quick Start</title>
27    ${rc.css()}
28</head>
29<body>
30    <div id="app">${html}</div>
31    ${rc.importmap()}
32    ${rc.moduleEntry()}
33    ${rc.modulePreload()}
34</body>
35</html>
36`;
37};

Running the Project

After completing the file configurations, use these commands to run the project:

Development mode:

1npm run dev

Build project:

1npm run build

Production environment:

1npm run start

Congratulations! You've successfully created a Preact+HTM SSR application using the Esmx framework. Visit http://localhost:3000 to see the result.

ON THIS PAGE

Preact+HTM#

Project Structure#

Project Configuration#

package.json#

tsconfig.json#

Source Code Structure#

app.ts#

create-app.ts#

entry.client.ts#

entry.node.ts#

entry.server.ts#

Running the Project#

Preact+HTM

Project Structure

Project Configuration

package.json

tsconfig.json

Source Code Structure

app.ts

create-app.ts

entry.client.ts

entry.node.ts

entry.server.ts

Running the Project