Live Reload
ELI5 — The Vibe Check
Live Reload is the simpler cousin of Hot Reload — when you save a file, it refreshes the entire browser tab automatically, like pressing F5 but automatically. You still lose any state (like form inputs), but at least you don't have to manually refresh. Most development servers include this by default.
Real Talk
Live Reload is a development workflow feature that watches for file changes and triggers a full browser reload when changes are detected. Unlike Hot Reload, it performs a complete page refresh rather than a module-level swap. Implemented in tools like webpack-dev-server, browser-sync, and many CLI dev servers.
When You'll Hear This
"Live Reload means I never have to press F5 during development." / "We need Live Reload since Hot Reload can't handle the state complexity here."
Related Terms
Development Environment
Your development environment (dev) is your personal sandbox — it's your local computer where you write and test code with no one watching and no real conse...
Hot Reload
Hot reload updates your running app when you change code without restarting the whole server. Edit a file, save, and see the change instantly.