js-beautify is a popular JavaScript library used for beautifying and formatting JavaScript, HTML, and CSS code. It helps developers improve code readability by automatically indenting and organizing code according to specified style guidelines. js-beautify supports various formatting options, including indentation size, line wrapping, and preserving existing code formatting.
Prettier is a popular code formatter that enforces a consistent code style across your project. It automatically formats your code based on a predefined set of rules, eliminating the need for manual formatting and reducing code review friction. Prettier supports various programming languages like JavaScript, TypeScript, CSS, HTML, and more, making it a versatile tool for maintaining code quality.
Prettier is currently more popular and widely used than js-beautify. Prettier gained significant popularity for its opinionated approach to code formatting and seamless integration with various editors and IDEs.
Formatting Capabilities
Prettier is known for its powerful and comprehensive code formatting capabilities. It supports a wide range of programming languages and provides consistent and well-defined formatting rules. On the other hand, js-beautify primarily focuses on JavaScript and offers more configuration options for fine-grained control over the formatting process.
Configurability
js-beautify provides extensive configuration options to control the formatting styles, indentation, and other formatting preferences according to project-specific requirements. Prettier, however, takes a more opinionated approach and aims to minimize the manual configuration by providing a set of default style rules. Customization in Prettier can be achieved through limited configuration options or by using additional plugins.
Integration
Both packages can be easily integrated into various development workflows. Prettier has broad editor support and can be seamlessly integrated with popular editors like Visual Studio Code, Sublime Text, and Atom. js-beautify also has several editor plugins available but may have a narrower range of integrations compared to Prettier.
Performance
Prettier is known for its fast and efficient formatting performance, thanks to its built-in parser and optimized algorithms. js-beautify, while also performant, may not offer comparable speed and efficiency in certain scenarios due to its extensibility and wider range of configuration options.
Community and Maintenance
Both js-beautify and Prettier have active communities and are well-maintained. Prettier, being more popular, has a larger community and receives regular updates and improvements. It also benefits from a more active plugin ecosystem, expanding its capabilities beyond code formatting.
