Final answer:
Loaders are needed in webpack to process different types of files and transform them into valid JavaScript modules that can be bundled.
Step-by-step explanation:
When using webpack, a loader is required to process different types of files such as CSS, images, and fonts, and transform them into valid JavaScript modules that can be bundled. It allows webpack to handle non-JavaScript files and integrate them into the dependency graph.
For example, if you have a CSS file that is imported in your JavaScript code, webpack needs a loader to parse and transform the CSS code into CSS modules that can be applied to the HTML.
This way, webpack can efficiently bundle all the files together and produce a single optimized output file.