Yeoman angular: Sass compilation extremly slow - sass

Question

I'm using the latest Yeoman angular generator to start a project. I'd like to use SASS and Compass, which is provided by default from Yeoman.
The big drawback of Compass is, that it is painfully slow. I have Twitter Bootstrap included (the SASS version), three .scss files in my styles folder and the compilation takes about 10-12 seconds. It is slightly faster (about one second) when using live watch.
But waiting 10-12 seconds on every style file change would be insane. I looked around and found some posts (most of them about a year old), but they didn't help me so much. I also found this project https://github.com/sindresorhus/grunt-sass where the original https://github.com/gruntjs/grunt-contrib-sass is replaced by a C++ version, instead of Ruby compiling. But the drawback is, that it doesn't support Compass.
I hope somebody can help me, to speed things up.
This is my setup:
I'm starting my grunt server with grunt serve, live watch *.js, *.scss files, and triggering a reload on file change. This is my Gruntfile.js:
// Generated on 2014-06-16 using generator-angular 0.9.0-1
'use strict';
// # Globbing
// for performance reasons we're only matching one level down:
// 'test/spec/{,*/}*.js'
// use this if you want to recursively match all subfolders:
// 'test/spec/**/*.js'
module.exports = function (grunt) {
// Load grunt tasks automatically
require('load-grunt-tasks')(grunt);
// Time how long tasks take. Can help when optimizing build times
require('time-grunt')(grunt);
// Configurable paths for the application
var appConfig = {
app: require('./bower.json').appPath || 'app',
dist: 'dist'
};
// Define the configuration for all the tasks
grunt.initConfig({
// Project settings
yeoman: appConfig,
// Watches files for changes and runs tasks based on the changed files
watch: {
bower: {
files: ['bower.json'],
tasks: ['wiredep']
},
js: {
files: ['<%= yeoman.app %>/scripts/{,*/}*.js'],
tasks: ['newer:jshint:all'],
options: {
livereload: '<%= connect.options.livereload %>'
}
},
jsTest: {
files: ['test/spec/{,*/}*.js'],
tasks: ['newer:jshint:test', 'karma']
},
compass: {
files: ['<%= yeoman.app %>/styles/{,*/}*.{scss,sass}'],
tasks: ['compass:server', 'autoprefixer'],
options: {
spawn: false,
}
},
gruntfile: {
files: ['Gruntfile.js']
},
livereload: {
options: {
livereload: '<%= connect.options.livereload %>'
},
files: [
'<%= yeoman.app %>/{,*/}*.html',
'.tmp/styles/{,*/}*.css',
'<%= yeoman.app %>/images/{,*/}*.{png,jpg,jpeg,gif,webp,svg}'
]
}
},
// The actual grunt server settings
connect: {
options: {
port: 9000,
// Change this to '0.0.0.0' to access the server from outside.
hostname: 'localhost',
livereload: 35729
},
livereload: {
options: {
open: false,
middleware: function (connect) {
return [
connect.static('.tmp'),
connect().use(
'/bower_components',
connect.static('./bower_components')
),
connect.static(appConfig.app)
];
}
}
},
test: {
options: {
port: 9001,
middleware: function (connect) {
return [
connect.static('.tmp'),
connect.static('test'),
connect().use(
'/bower_components',
connect.static('./bower_components')
),
connect.static(appConfig.app)
];
}
}
},
dist: {
options: {
open: false,
base: '<%= yeoman.dist %>'
}
}
},
// Make sure code styles are up to par and there are no obvious mistakes
jshint: {
options: {
jshintrc: '.jshintrc',
reporter: require('jshint-stylish')
},
all: {
src: [
'Gruntfile.js',
'<%= yeoman.app %>/scripts/{,*/}*.js'
]
},
test: {
options: {
jshintrc: 'test/.jshintrc'
},
src: ['test/spec/{,*/}*.js']
}
},
// Empties folders to start fresh
clean: {
dist: {
files: [{
dot: true,
src: [
'.tmp',
'<%= yeoman.dist %>/{,*/}*',
'!<%= yeoman.dist %>/.git*'
]
}]
},
server: '.tmp'
},
// Add vendor prefixed styles
autoprefixer: {
options: {
browsers: ['last 1 version']
},
dist: {
files: [{
expand: true,
cwd: '.tmp/styles/',
src: '{,*/}*.css',
dest: '.tmp/styles/'
}]
}
},
// Automatically inject Bower components into the app
wiredep: {
app: {
src: ['<%= yeoman.app %>/index.html'],
ignorePath: new RegExp('^<%= yeoman.app %>/|../')
},
sass: {
src: ['<%= yeoman.app %>/styles/{,*/}*.{scss,sass}'],
ignorePath: /(\.\.\/){1,2}bower_components\//
}
},
// Compiles Sass to CSS and generates necessary files if requested
compass: {
options: {
sassDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/styles',
cssDir: '.tmp/styles',
generatedImagesDir: '.tmp/images/generated',
imagesDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/images',
javascriptsDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/scripts',
fontsDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/styles/fonts',
importPath: './bower_components',
httpImagesPath: '/images',
httpGeneratedImagesPath: '/images/generated',
httpFontsPath: '/styles/fonts',
relativeAssets: false,
assetCacheBuster: false,
raw: 'Sass::Script::Number.precision = 10\n'
},
dist: {
options: {
generatedImagesDir: '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images/generated'
}
},
server: {
options: {
debugInfo: true
}
}
},
// Renames files for browser caching purposes
filerev: {
dist: {
src: [
'<%= yeoman.dist %>/scripts/{,*/}*.js',
'<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/{,*/}*.css',
'<%= yeoman.dist %>/images/{,*/}*.{png,jpg,jpeg,gif,webp,svg}',
'<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/fonts/*'
]
}
},
// Reads HTML for usemin blocks to enable smart builds that automatically
// concat, minify and revision files. Creates configurations in memory so
// additional tasks can operate on them
useminPrepare: {
html: '<%= yeoman.app %>/index.html',
options: {
dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>',
flow: {
html: {
steps: {
js: ['concat', 'uglifyjs'],
css: ['cssmin']
},
post: {}
}
}
}
},
// Performs rewrites based on filerev and the useminPrepare configuration
usemin: {
html: ['<%= yeoman.dist %>/{,*/}*.html'],
css: ['<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/{,*/}*.css'],
options: {
assetsDirs: ['<%= yeoman.dist %>','<%= yeoman.dist %>/images']
}
},
// The following *-min tasks will produce minified files in the dist folder
// By default, your `index.html`'s <!-- Usemin block --> will take care of
// minification. These next options are pre-configured if you do not wish
// to use the Usemin blocks.
// cssmin: {
// dist: {
// files: {
// '<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/main.css': [
// '.tmp/styles/{,*/}*.css'
// ]
// }
// }
// },
// uglify: {
// dist: {
// files: {
// '<%= yeoman.dist %>/scripts/scripts.js': [
// '<%= yeoman.dist %>/scripts/scripts.js'
// ]
// }
// }
// },
// concat: {
// dist: {}
// },
imagemin: {
dist: {
files: [{
expand: true,
cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>/images',
src: '{,*/}*.{png,jpg,jpeg,gif}',
dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images'
}]
}
},
svgmin: {
dist: {
files: [{
expand: true,
cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>/images',
src: '{,*/}*.svg',
dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images'
}]
}
},
htmlmin: {
dist: {
options: {
collapseWhitespace: true,
conservativeCollapse: true,
collapseBooleanAttributes: true,
removeCommentsFromCDATA: true,
removeOptionalTags: true
},
files: [{
expand: true,
cwd: '<%= yeoman.dist %>',
src: ['*.html', 'views/{,*/}*.html'],
dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>'
}]
}
},
// ngmin tries to make the code safe for minification automatically by
// using the Angular long form for dependency injection. It doesn't work on
// things like resolve or inject so those have to be done manually.
ngmin: {
dist: {
files: [{
expand: true,
cwd: '.tmp/concat/scripts',
src: '*.js',
dest: '.tmp/concat/scripts'
}]
}
},
// Replace Google CDN references
cdnify: {
dist: {
html: ['<%= yeoman.dist %>/*.html']
}
},
// Copies remaining files to places other tasks can use
copy: {
dist: {
files: [{
expand: true,
dot: true,
cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>',
dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>',
src: [
'*.{ico,png,txt}',
'.htaccess',
'*.html',
'views/{,*/}*.html',
'images/{,*/}*.{webp}',
'fonts/*'
]
}, {
expand: true,
cwd: '.tmp/images',
dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images',
src: ['generated/*']
}, {
expand: true,
cwd: '.',
src: 'bower_components/bootstrap-sass-official/vendor/assets/fonts/bootstrap/*',
dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>'
}]
},
styles: {
expand: true,
cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>/styles',
dest: '.tmp/styles/',
src: '{,*/}*.css'
}
},
// Run some tasks in parallel to speed up the build process
concurrent: {
server: [
'compass:server'
],
test: [
'compass'
],
dist: [
'compass:dist',
'imagemin',
'svgmin'
]
},
// Test settings
karma: {
unit: {
configFile: 'test/karma.conf.js',
singleRun: false
}
}
});
grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-sass');
grunt.registerTask('serve', 'Compile then start a connect web server', function (target) {
if (target === 'dist') {
return grunt.task.run(['build', 'connect:dist:keepalive']);
}
grunt.task.run([
'clean:server',
'wiredep',
'concurrent:server',
'autoprefixer',
'connect:livereload',
'watch'
]);
});
grunt.registerTask('server', 'DEPRECATED TASK. Use the "serve" task instead', function (target) {
grunt.log.warn('The `server` task has been deprecated. Use `grunt serve` to start a server.');
grunt.task.run(['serve:' + target]);
});
grunt.registerTask('test', [
'clean:server',
'autoprefixer',
'connect:test',
'karma'
]);
grunt.registerTask('build', [
'clean:dist',
'wiredep',
'useminPrepare',
'concurrent:dist',
'autoprefixer',
'concat',
'ngmin',
'copy:dist',
'cdnify',
'cssmin',
'uglify',
'filerev',
'usemin',
'htmlmin'
]);
grunt.registerTask('default', [
'newer:jshint',
'test',
'build'
]);
};
When starting my grunt server, I get this ouput:
Running "serve" task
Running "clean:server" (clean) task
Cleaning .tmp...OK
Running "wiredep:app" (wiredep) task
Running "wiredep:sass" (wiredep) task
Running "concurrent:server" (concurrent) task
Running "compass:server" (compass) task
directory .tmp/styles/
create .tmp/styles/colors.css (0.173s)
create .tmp/styles/main.css (5.485s)
create .tmp/styles/styles.css (5.725s)
Compilation took 11.39s
Done, without errors.
Execution Time (2014-06-17 13:43:30 UTC)
compass:server 12.9s ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 100%
Total 12.9s
Running "autoprefixer:dist" (autoprefixer) task
File .tmp/styles/colors.css created.
File .tmp/styles/main.css created.
File .tmp/styles/styles.css created.
Running "connect:livereload" (connect) task
Started connect web server on http://localhost:9000
Running "watch" task
Waiting...
A file change shows this log:
>> File "app/styles/colors.scss" changed.
Running "compass:server" (compass) task
identical .tmp/styles/colors.css (0.033s)
overwrite .tmp/styles/main.css (4.074s)
overwrite .tmp/styles/styles.css (4.548s)
Compilation took 9.216s
Running "autoprefixer:dist" (autoprefixer) task
File .tmp/styles/colors.css created.
File .tmp/styles/main.css created.
File .tmp/styles/styles.css created.
Running "watch" task
Completed in 12.515s at Tue Jun 17 2014 15:48:47 GMT+0200 (CEST) - Waiting...
As you can see, the initial startup takes about 13 seconds, a file change about 9 seconds.
Any ideas, how to speed this up?
UPDATE
I played around a little bit, and this might help. It doesn't solve the slow compilation problem itselft, but it speeds up things:
If you don't need the Bootstrap SASS version, skip it and switch to the normal CSS version. Your compilation time will decrease significant
If you need the SASS version, have a look at the bootstrap.scss file (either in your bower_components/bootstrap-sass-official folder, or if you have downloaded it manually, where you put it). Maybe there are some components you don't need, so you can skip some files. In your main SCSS file, you would include bootstrap like this: #import "bootstrap-sass-official/vendor/assets/stylesheets/bootstrap.scss";. Look inside this file, and copy only the things you need into your main SCSS file (and be sure to change the paths).
Make sure that you use the #import statements properly. By default, everything that doesn't has a _ in front of the filename get's compiled and included by Grunt. Normally you would have one file like styles.scss for your whole application or if you want to seperate it several page1.scss, page2.scss... files. If you include other files like #import 'colors.scss'; make sure the filename is _colors.scss. Otherwise the colors.scss gets also compiled by Grunt and then compiled again because of the #import statement. This would slow down you compilation process.
But again, this are only work arounds and doesn't speed up the compilation itself. So, still searching for a solution.

Answer 1

You can replace compass with compass-mixins which is fully compatible with libsass and use compass-importer to update all the original compass #import's with the new ones.
When I migrated some compass projects to libsass I reduced the compilation time from ~30s to ~350ms.