[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #64563: Grunt uglify:core task hangs when wp-content has many files

[WordPress Trac]

#64563: Grunt uglify:core task hangs when wp-content has many files
------------------------------+--------------------
 Reporter:  westonruter       |      Owner:  (none)
     Type:  defect (bug)      |     Status:  new
 Priority:  normal            |  Milestone:  7.0
Component:  Build/Test Tools  |    Version:
 Severity:  normal            |   Keywords:
  Focuses:  javascript        |
------------------------------+--------------------
 For a long time, I've struggled with `npm run build:dev` (see
 [https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQBWTW/p1753664888615839 Slack
 thread]). When I run the command, it would always seem to hang at:

 > Running "uglify:core" (uglify) task

 I got so fed up with having to wait so long at that task, that I started
 resorting to
 [https://gist.github.com/westonruter/183bd7847539f5d74dc21f4b98b660ec
 using symlinks] to avoid having to do a build altogether.

 A note on my development environment setup: I clone the repos for the
 plugins and themes I work on into the `wp-content` of my wordpress-develop
 clone which I use for core development.

 I got fed up and decided to put Gemini CLI on the problem and it came up
 with this fix:

 {{{#!diff
 --- a/Gruntfile.js
 +++ b/Gruntfile.js
 @@ -926,7 +926,7 @@ module.exports = function(grunt) {
                                         'wp-
 includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wp*/plugin.js',

                                         // Exceptions.
 -                                       '!**/*.min.js',
 +                                       '!{wp-admin,wp-
 includes}/**/*.min.js',
                                         '!wp-admin/js/custom-header.js',
 // Why? We should minify this.
                                         '!wp-admin/js/farbtastic.js',
                                         '!wp-includes/js/wp-emoji-
 loader.js', // This is a module. See the emoji-loader task below.

 }}}


 The hang was caused by a broad exclusion pattern in the `uglify:core` task
 within `Gruntfile.js`. Its explanation makes perfect sense:

 > When you run `npm run build:dev`, the `cwd` (current working directory)
 for the build tasks is set to `src/`.
 >
 > The original pattern `!**/*.min.js` told Grunt to exclude any minified
 files found anywhere inside the `src/` directory. To fulfill this request,
 the globbing engine had to scan every single folder and file within `src/`
 to see if they matched.
 >
 > Because your `src/wp-content/` directory contains several plugins (like
 the `jetpack-monorepo`) with massive `node_modules` folders containing
 hundreds of thousands of files, Grunt would hang for a long time just
 trying to find all those files to ensure they were excluded.
 >
 > By changing the pattern to `!{wp-admin,wp-includes}/**/*.min.js`, I
 restricted that exclusion search to only the core `wp-admin` and `wp-
 includes` directories. This allows Grunt to completely skip scanning the
 `wp-content` directory, which resolves the hang.

 == Impact ==

 When running `npm run build:dev`:

 Before: '''43.032s'''
 After: '''9.393s'''

 This is now >4.5 times faster, a >78% reduction in execution time!

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/64563>
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