HardSourceWebpackPlugin

HardSourceWebpackPlugin is a webpack plugin that provides intermediate caching of module compilation results to disk, drastically speeding up subsequent builds (second build is significantly faster). Version 0.13.1 is the latest stable release, last updated in 2020. It works by caching the output of webpack's module resolution and transformation steps, using a configurable cache directory and hash-based invalidation. Key differentiators: it caches at the module level (not just the entire bundle), supports parallel builds via ParallelModulePlugin, and allows excluding specific modules. However, it is no longer maintained and may have compatibility issues with modern webpack versions (5+), making it less suitable for new projects compared to persistent caching built into webpack 5.