esbuild is a fast and efficient JavaScript bundler and minifier built with Go. It is known for its blazing fast speed, thanks to its parallel processing and minimal configuration requirements. esbuild supports modern JavaScript features like ES6 modules, JSX, and TypeScript, and can bundle large codebases in milliseconds.
Alternatives:
webpack-+
rollup-+
parcel-+
vite-+
snowpack-+
gulp-+
browserify-+
microbundle-+
swc-+
tsc-+
Tags: javascriptbundlerminifieres6jsxtypescript
rollup
v4.16.4(4 days ago)
Rollup is a JavaScript module bundler that focuses on providing a simple and efficient way to bundle JavaScript code for the web. It is known for its tree-shaking capabilities, which help in removing unused code and optimizing the final bundle size. Rollup supports ES modules natively and allows developers to write code using the latest JavaScript features without worrying about compatibility issues.
Rollup is a widely popular and established bundler with a large community and ecosystem. Esbuild, although relatively new, has gained a lot of popularity due to its incredible speed and small bundle sizes. While Rollup has been around longer and has more widespread usage, Esbuild is quickly gaining traction.
Performance
Esbuild is known for its exceptional performance and fast bundling speed. It leverages Go as its underlying implementation, making it significantly faster than Rollup. Rollup is also performant, but not at the same level as Esbuild.
Configuration and Ease of Use
Rollup has a more extensive configuration setup and offers more advanced features compared to Esbuild. Rollup plugins provide a flexible and customizable build pipeline. Esbuild, on the other hand, aims for simplicity and ease of use with a minimalistic configuration approach.
Tree Shaking
Both Esbuild and Rollup excel at tree shaking, eliminating unused code from the bundle. However, Esbuild's tree shaking capabilities are often highlighted for its efficiency and performance.
Community and Ecosystem
Rollup has a mature and extensive ecosystem with various plugins and integrations available. Many popular libraries and frameworks offer Rollup support out of the box. Esbuild, being relatively new, has a smaller ecosystem but is rapidly growing with support for popular tools and frameworks being actively developed.
Bundle Size
Esbuild produces smaller bundle sizes compared to Rollup, thanks to its efficient tree shaking and minification. This can be a significant advantage in performance-critical applications.
Development and Stability
Rollup has been in development for a longer time and has a stable and proven track record. Esbuild, although newer, has gained a reputation for being stable and reliable despite its rapid development. Both projects have active maintainers.
