How can you automate HTML validation with Grunt or Gulp?

1 What are Grunt and Gulp?

Grunt and Gulp are tools that allow you to automate common tasks in web development, such as compiling, minifying, testing, or deploying your code. They work by reading a configuration file, where you define the tasks you want to run and the plugins you want to use. You can then run the tasks from the command line or integrate them with your editor or IDE. Grunt and Gulp have many plugins available for different purposes, including HTML validation.

3 How to validate HTML with Grunt?

To validate HTML with Grunt, you need to install the grunt-html plugin, which uses the W3C HTML validator to check your HTML files. You can install the plugin with the command npm install grunt-html --save-dev , which will save it as a development dependency in your package.json file. You also need to create a Gruntfile.js file in your project folder, where you can configure the tasks and plugins you want to use. A basic Gruntfile.js for HTML validation looks like this:

module.exports = function(grunt) {
  // Project configuration
  grunt.initConfig({
    // HTML validation task
    htmllint: {
      // Target files
      all: ["*.html"]
    }
  });
  // Load the plugin
  grunt.loadNpmTasks("grunt-html");
  // Register the default task
  grunt.registerTask("default", ["htmllint"]);
};        

With this configuration, you can run the command grunt in your project folder, and it will validate all the HTML files in the same folder. You can also customize the target files, the options, and the output of the validation task, as explained in the plugin documentation.

4 How to validate HTML with Gulp?

To validate HTML with Gulp, you need to install the gulp-htmlhint plugin, which uses the HTMLHint tool to check your HTML files. You can install the plugin with the command npm install gulp-htmlhint --save-dev , which will save it as a development dependency in your package.json file. You also need to create a gulpfile.js file in your project folder, where you can configure the tasks and plugins you want to use. A basic gulpfile.js for HTML validation looks like this:

// Require the plugin
var htmlhint = require("gulp-htmlhint");
// Require the gulp module
var gulp = require("gulp");
// Define the HTML validation task
gulp.task("html", function() {
  // Return a stream of source files
  return gulp.src("*.html")
    // Pipe the files through the plugin
    .pipe(htmlhint())
    // Output the results to the console
    .pipe(htmlhint.reporter());
});
// Define the default task
gulp.task("default", ["html"]);        

With this configuration, you can run the command gulp in your project folder, and it will validate all the HTML files in the same folder. You can also customize the source files, the options, and the reporter of the validation task, as explained in the plugin documentation.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?