Comment by 314

I prefer to use vite - you get handling of imports without needing a separate bundler step, but you get hot reload as well. I find it is a nicer experience, YMMV but it is good to have alternative options:

  FROM node:19.1.0
  WORKDIR /project/vite_project
  RUN npm init -y
  RUN npm install react react-dom
  RUN npm install -g esbuild
  RUN npm install vite
  EXPOSE 8081
  CMD ["npm","run","dev"]

The react install isn't normally there if I start light - but it shows that the path to throwing in a framework is smooth. Typically combined with:

  #!/usr/bin/env bash
  docker build -t vite_play -f Dockerfile.vite emp/

Obviously there is something to a bundler step happening in the background, but it is fast enough (and implicit) so it doesn't get in the way of rapid prototyping.