Webpack Hot Middleware

Webpack Hot Middleware provides hot module replacement (HMR) capabilities for Webpack applications by integrating with an existing server, such as Express, and `webpack-dev-middleware`. This library is a direct alternative to `webpack-dev-server` for scenarios where developers need more control over their server setup, particularly for integrating HMR into custom backend environments. It focuses exclusively on the client-server communication mechanism for HMR updates, subscribing to server-side changes and executing them using Webpack's native HMR API. The current stable version is 2.26.1, released in February 2024, indicating a steady but infrequent release cadence primarily for bug fixes and compatibility updates. It does not handle the actual component-level hot reloading, leaving that to other libraries like React Hot Loader.