renovate VS create-react-app

This month, I gave a talk with my Zenika colleague Lise at the DevoxxFR conference about Renovate and Dependabot, two great tools to help you automatize and upgrade your dependencies.

There is no built-in Renovate Bot on a self-hosted GitLab. What can we do to set it up and enjoy all the benefits of automatic dependency updates?

> Yes, it is awesome until you have to sysadmin it, apply updates, patch it, fix security holes, etc. I am not saying all self-hosted solutions are like that. There are exceptions. However, the majority of open-source self-hosted solutions require a lot of extra work.

I'm currently self-hosting 10 different applications on my local server, which represents everything I've ever seen that looked fun or useful to me. Every one of them had a Docker image with an example compose file, which means updating them just requires periodically running Renovate [0] on the repo that stores all my compose files and then running a script that docker compose pulls the updates. It takes maybe 10 minutes every other week, and is actually kinda fun.

It helps that all the apps are only accessible from within my VPN, so I'm not too worried about fixing security updates within a tiny time window.

[0] https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate

This is a big deal! Where did you read this? I found:

https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate/discussions/26917

Renovate is an automated dependency management tool that can be used to keep your dependencies up-to-date. It can be configured to automatically create pull requests to update your dependencies, and it supports a wide range of package managers and platforms.

To get started with Mend Renovate, the comprehensive official documentation provides detailed instructions on installation, configuration, and best practices. Additionally, the Mend Renovate community forum offers a platform for users to connect, share experiences, and access the collective knowledge base.

It is a good practice to keep software up to date. To track changes in upstream software, we can utilize automatic dependency tracking systems such as Dependabot or Renovate. This is a broad topic and requires a separate article to be covered. If you would like to read about it, please vote in the comments section below.

So do other forges: I have Renovate [0] set up on my self-hosted Forgejo and it's worked great so far.

[0] https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate

Create React App (CRA) abstracts away the complexity of configuring Webpack, Babel, and other build tools, allowing developers to focus on writing React code. It includes features such as hot module reloading for efficient development.

Immerse yourself in the official Create React App documentation for a deeper understanding.

Create React App (https://create-react-app.dev/)

- And ofc, there are some templates/frameworks that bring something of that together (https://create-react-app.dev/; maybe https://vitejs.dev/) - google for templates.

I recommend finding some friend with modern experience or at least some youtube tutorials or at least some learning course. That would help you to catch up on the best way to bootstrap your first project. Then you can practice.

What's the connection?

Also, take a look at this response from 2021: https://github.com/facebook/create-react-app/discussions/117...

Create React App Documentation

Inside the react-tutorial-app folder, to create a new React project runs the following command using create-react-appand for more details on how create-react-app works and other staff, please visit the official website: https://create-react-app.dev/

Before we embark on our journey, make sure you have React installed and a React project set up. If not, fear not! Create React App is your trusty sidekick for a quick start.