I don't know what you are complaining about. Build systems are complex. These config files are relatively straight-forward. You tell it where to start, where to output, to use sourcemaps, and give it a few plugins. It can't get much simpler.

For hot module replacement, sure, it gets a little more complex. You add another plugin and another entry point, that's all.

You're sounding really defensive. I find it entertaining that in one sentence you say 'Build systems are complex' and in another 'It can't get much simpler.'

I disagree that build systems need to be complex. They get complex because people try to invent too many different ways of doing things instead of working towards standards. webpack is a prime example of that.

I'd love to see a full demo seed example of your ideal build system. Something that includes hot code swapping and even more importantly, unit testing.

I don't feel defensive, honestly build systems are boring to me so I'm not that passionate about it. What I meant was that its simple relative to what it could be.

Yes, build systems are complex, because people need features, even if you personally don't need them. Webpack doesn't offer many ways to do the same thing; it just simply has a lot of features. Whenever we get enough tooling around ES6 modules to match it (or come close), I'll gladly switch.

You'll see a fuller example later. I'd love to see a matching set up using systemjs/jspm. You could convince me to switch.

I'm currently setting up something similar to this. It's an app that does server-side rendering. It has the server-side code, the shared rendering code, and the client-side code.

Webpack solves a LOT of problems with application development. Handling assets properly is very difficult, and webpack makes it straightforward.

Build systems are complicated, I'd love to see something that handles the same problems as webpack but somehow manages to avoid the required configuration.