Using Firebase with webpack? You might be able to save 220kb

In a lot of tutorials I came across the comfortable solution of just adding import * as firebase from ‘firebase’ for your firebase import. As it turns out, there are 4 modular packages for Firebase. Here they are along with their sizes:

• firebase/app: 22.1kb .initializeApp(firebaseConfig)
• firebase/auth: 147.6kb .auth()
• firebase/database: 139.8kb .database()
• firebase/storage: 51.2kb .storage()

Usually you might not need all of these Firebase services and can require() or import just what is needed — with the help of webpack’s Tree Shaking.

Code

before:

import * as firebase from 'firebase';

after:

import * as firebase from 'firebase/app';
import 'firebase/storage';
import 'firebase/database';

// ...

firebase.initializeApp(firebaseConfig);

This will tell webpack (or whatever bundler you use) that they should also include storage and database. You can then still use firebase.storage().ref(...) in your code.

Applied example

Let’s assume you only want to take advantage of Firebase’s great Database. Instead of adding 360.7kb, you’d only have to add the firebase/database that imports 139.8kb.

Resulting in 220.9kb saved (61%)!

Simon Wicki is a Freelance Developer in Berlin. Worked on Web and Mobile apps at JustWatch. Fluent in Vue, Angular, React and Ionic. Passionate about Frontend, tech, web perf & non-fiction books.

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