Webpack is one of the most popular bundlers around today. Tons of production apps and frameworks, such as Next.js, Create React App, and more, use it for bundling and building. Additionally, it has the largest library of plugins out of any bundler. However, times have changed since Webpack’s inception, and now it is not the best tool for lots of cases. By AsyncBanana.
The article main content:
- Why Webpack grew
- The ecosystem now
- Dev mode speeds
- Ease of configuration
- Bundle size
- Alternatives (Parcel, Rollup, Vite, Snowpack)
Nowadays, there are many other bundlers, like Rollup, Parcel, Vite, and Snowpack, as well as a new native module system, ESM, or ECMAScript Modules. The newer bundlers have simpler configuration, allowing people to add/create plugins and configure the setup more easily, and some utilize ESM to make ultra fast reload speeds and smaller bundles.
While Webpack has a vast number of plugins and community support, in lots of ways, it is not the best thing to use. Personally, author prefers Vite, as it solves all three problems in an effective way, making it as easy to configure as Parcel, but still using ESM and gaining the advantages of that. Nice one!
[Read More]