Test plugin without build step

[stefnotch]

We should change our plugin tests to not require a build step. Like https://github.com/lucacasonato/esbuild_deno_loader/blob/main/mod_test.ts

So the plugin runs as a part of vite/esbuild/webpack.

And we can reasonably run esbuild in a unit test. And supply it with the plugin.

import ourCutePlugin from "../path-to-wesl-plugin.ts"

const res = await esbuild.build({
      ...DEFAULT_OPTS,
      plugins: [ourCutePlugin],
      entryPoints: ["./testdata/mod.ts"],
    });

[mighdoll]

So basically running the build from within the unit tests, rather than running the build externally before running the unit test. If vite will track dependencies via the import of the plugin entry point, should be a win vs. maintaining an external nodemon file. Is there some reason to use esbuild vs. tsdown?

[stefnotch]

I looked into this, apparently esbuild offers one important feature compared to tsdown. It can be used without writing to the filesystem, and instead produce its output in-memory.

You can see them using it here
https://github.com/lucacasonato/esbuild_deno_loader/blob/2bc9a9d17c4e165e831d1d049cb0e8b3ecb982b9/mod_test.ts#L19