Hi everyone, I just started working as a frontend developer on a React project and I’m a bit confused about the deployment process we’re using.
Currently, I need to manually generate 30 different WAR files and move each one into a deployment folder just to run the application. There’s no automated system, no scripts available — it’s all manual. This is only for the development setup, not even for production.
The most frustrating part is that we lack hot reload or any live update features, so if I make a minor change to the UI, I must rebuild all those WAR files again, which takes a long time and makes development quite tedious.
In my past React projects, we typically had dedicated development servers with npm scripts and live reload functionalities. Is this manual WAR file method common in Java-oriented organizations? Or does it suggest underlying technical debt that needs to be addressed?
I would love to hear from others who work with both React and Java about how your teams manage similar situations.
This deployment approach is certainly not standard practice for React development. Having worked in several enterprise environments that mix React with Java backends, I can tell you that even the most conservative organizations typically implement some form of build automation. The lack of hot reload alone should be a red flag that something needs attention. What you are experiencing suggests significant technical debt. Most Java-heavy shops I have encountered use Maven or Gradle with automated build pipelines, even for development environments. The fact that you are manually handling 30 WAR files indicates either outdated tooling or a reluctance to modernize the development workflow. I would recommend discussing this with your team lead or architect. There are established patterns for integrating React builds into Java deployment processes that eliminate this manual overhead. The productivity loss from your current setup likely justifies the investment in proper tooling.
honestly this sounds like a nightmare setup… ive worked with react in java shops before and while some use war files, 30 manual builds is definetly not normal. most places i know use webpack dev server or at least some build automation. sounds like legacy processes that nobody wants to fix