With the arrival of 2024, the world of j**ascript is once again ushering in a wave of technological innovation. Today, I had the pleasure of reading an in-depth analysis of the 5 major J**Ascript build systems that will dominate this year. This is not just an article, but a window into the world of future front-end development. I decided to translate and organize it to explore these tools that could change the way we work. In this article, we will demystify the building system in 2024 together. Let's start this technology journey together and see how these build systems can help us in the new year. Here's what I've got in store for you.
As J**Ascript technology continues to advance, developers are facing more and more challenges, especially when it comes to application deployment. From compiling and testing to creating and updating releases, this is not only a time-consuming and labor-intensive process, but also requires continuous monitoring to optimize the build system. Not only does this distract us from focusing on business value, but it can also put us behind the competition.
Deploying an application is a complex and time-consuming process. As developers, there are several things we need to consider:
Compilation: Converts the source into an executable program.
Test Execution: Ensure stability and reliability.
Creation of a release version: Build a version of the app that can be deployed.
Update to the latest version: Keep your apps up to date with the latest technology.
If you start from scratch, this series of efforts will take months to set up and will require constant monitoring to continuously optimize the build system. This means that you spend less time delivering business value, while also giving competitors a chance to outperform.
In this case, build systems become critical in the development process. They provide an automated process to handle the above requirements and ensure greater efficiency for slow builds and collaboration.
Therefore, this article will take a look at the top 5 j**ascript build systems to watch in 2024 to help you choose the right build tool for your next big project.
bit: Focus on the component building system, optimize the management and construction of front-end component libraries.
lerna: A multi-package management tool for managing multiple packages in a large library.
TurboRepo: A high-performance build tool focused on improving build speed and efficiency.
NX: Provides a comprehensive workflow management and build solution for modern web applications.
Bazel: Google's multi-language supported build tool for large projects and multi-platform builds.
Next, we'll dive into the features and benefits of each of these build systems to make an informed choice for your project.
lerna。This is not a traditional tool, but a powerful tool for managing multiple packages for j**ascript projects. If you haven't heard of lerna, you're really out!
Advantages of lerna: why should you use it?
Masters at managing multi-package projects: The biggest highlight of LeRERNA is its efficient management of multi-package projects (which we call "monorepo"). If you have a lot of small packages in your project, managing them with lerna will make things much easier.
Versioning and Publishing Made Easy: Leerna makes versioning and publishing packages that depend on each other easy and enjoyable. This means that you can keep all parts consistent and in sync throughout the project.
Parallel Execution: For developers, LeRERNA supports parallel execution, which greatly speeds up the development cycle.
Limitations of lerna: who is it for?
While lerna sounds great, it's not suitable for every project. For example:
For newbies, the learning curve for lerna can be a bit steep. It may take some time and effort to really master it.
For those small projects, lerna can introduce unnecessary complexity and overhead.
As a result, lerna is more suitable for large projects with multiple interdependent packages, or where shared components need to be maintained in a single repository.
Why is Lerna cool?
Increase efficiency: Who doesn't want to be one step ahead in a fast-paced development environmentLeRERNA is your accelerator.
Modern project management: For young developers looking for fresh and cutting-edge technology, lerna represents a modern approach to project management.
Support from the open source community: Joining the ranks of developers who use LERNA means that you will be part of an active and vibrant open source community.
Overall, LeRERNA is a powerful tool that is especially useful for large, complex j**ascript projects. It might not be for everyone, but if you're working on a large project with multiple packages, then LeRERNA is definitely worth checking out. Grasp it and your project management efficiency will be improved by leaps and bounds!
Tip: If you're interested in Lerna, or want to start a big J**Ascript project, give Lerna a try and see what it can do for you!
NX, an advanced development toolkit built on top of the Angular CLI. Nx isn't just limited to Angular, it also supports React, Nodejs、deno、nuxt、next.js and other front-end and back-end frameworks!NX is a boon for young developers who like to explore new technologies and pursue diversity.
NX Highlights: Why is it so popular?
Smart Task Execution: NX optimizes the build process with its smart task execution feature that speeds up compilation times and increases developer productivity.
Framework-agnostic: NX not only supports Angular, but also adapts to a variety of different front-end and back-end frameworks, giving developers a great deal of flexibility.
Built-in generators: NX includes generators that simplify the maintenance of your project's structure and make the development process smoother.
Limitations of NX: What kind of project is it suitable for?
While NX is very powerful, it also has some limitations:
For developers who are new to NX, the initial setup can be a bit complicated.
For small, simple projects, NX can seem a little too big.
As a result, NX is more suitable for large applications, especially those with multiple technologies, or teams with a mono repo architecture.
The charm of NX is in **?
Technical Diversity: NX supports a wide range of frameworks, which opens up a wide range of options for young developers who like to experiment with new technologies.
Improve collaboration efficiency: In multi-person teams, NX's mono repo structure can greatly improve sharing and collaboration efficiency.
Innovative Experience: With NX, you can experience cutting-edge development tools and methods, which is undoubtedly very attractive for young people who are looking for something new.
NX is a powerful, adaptable development toolkit that is ideal for large, technically diverse projects. It can be challenging for newbies, but once mastered, it will greatly improve your development efficiency and project management skills.
Tip: If you're looking for a tool that can support multiple technologies and improve team collaboration, then NX is definitely worth checking out!Especially for those large projects that dabble in multiple tech stacks, NX can be an ideal choice.
Brief introduction. BIT is a modern j**ascript build system that allows developers to design, develop, build, and version components in a standalone environment. The core idea of BIT is "Bit Scopes", which is a platform that hosts components and facilitates collaboration between team members. Each scope contains a dependency graph that tracks components and their usage.
Core features: Stand-alone component handling: BIT is able to identify and use components across tree structures.
Ripple CI Integration: Provides continuous integration and the ability to upgrade changes to automatically propagate changes on the component tree.
Simplified Component Delivery System: In this way, BIT provides a simpler, more robust component delivery system that improves consistency and reliability.
Distributed component management: BIT allows components to be distributed across different repositories, for example, components can be managed using BIT and changes can be pushed to the npm repository via Ripple CI.
Advantage. Component-based development: BIT promotes a component-based approach that promotes seamless integration and reuse.
Automatic version control and dependency management: BIT automates version control and dependency management to ensure consistency.
Diversity: Supports a variety of build tasks and environments to adapt to different development scenarios.
Inferior position. Shift in development mindset: Adopting BIT requires a change in development mindset and can be challenging for some teams.
Limited visibility: BIT may be less well-known in the developer community than more established tools.
Best Use Case.
Build a library of components.
Collaborative development across teams.
Through the analysis of the bit, we can see that it is a powerful tool, especially for teams that value component-based development and collaboration. Although it may take some getting used to, the features and flexibility offered by BIT make it a build system option worth considering.
Brief introduction. TurboRepo is a high-performance build system for the Jascript and TypeScript libraries. It borrows advanced technologies from Facebook and Google, with a focus on incremental building, content-aware hashing, and parallel execution.
Core features: Incremental builds: TurboRepo focuses on incremental builds, reducing development cycle time by skipping unnecessary calculations.
Content-aware hashing: Dependencies are handled efficiently with content-aware hashes, ensuring reliable and fast builds.
Scalability: TurboRepo is designed to scale, providing the best performance for large libraries.
Advantage. Shortened development cycles: Significantly reduce development time with incremental builds.
Efficient dependency management: Content-aware hashing ensures the efficiency and reliability of dependency management.
For large projects: Designed for large projects to maintain high performance regardless of project size.
Inferior position. Limited visibility and adoption: TurboRepo may have lower visibility and adoption compared to more established build systems.
Feature richness: There may be a lack of some advanced features compared to more mature tools.
Best Use Case.
Scale your library without impacting build performance.
Teams looking for a robust alternative to mainstream build systems.
TurboRepo is a high-performance build system with a focus on scalability, ideal for teams with large projects and high requirements for build performance. Although it may be slightly inferior to some established build systems in terms of feature richness and market awareness, its advantages in improving development efficiency and handling large projects make it an attractive option.
Brief introduction. Bazel is known for its support for multiple programming languages in the build system, allowing developers to build and test projects written in a variety of languages. Originating from Google, Bazel's focus on correctness, reproducibility, and scalability makes it ideal for large, mission-critical projects.
Core features: Correctness and reproducibility: Bazel emphasizes the correctness and reproducibility of the build, ensuring reliable results in different environments.
Multi-language support: Bazel supports a variety of programming languages to meet diverse project needs.
Scalability: Bazel efficiently handles large projects and is suitable for mission-critical applications.
Advantage. Ensure build quality: Emphasize correctness and reproducibility to ensure the reliability of build results.
Ideal for multilingual projects: Support for multiple programming languages makes it an ideal tool for multilingual projects.
Suitable for large-scale projects: Oriented to large-scale projects, it has strong ability to handle complex projects.
Inferior position. Steep learning curve: For developers new to the tool, Bazel can have a steep learning curve.
There may be additional overhead for small projects: When using Bazel, small projects may experience some unnecessary overhead.
Best Use Case.
Large-scale projects involving multiple programming languages.
Organizations that value correctness and scalability.
Bazel is a powerful multilingual support build system that is perfect for large and complex projects. Its correctness and reproducibility make it ideal for mission-critical applications. While the learning curve is steep, Bazel offers unmatched advantages and performance for organizations that need to handle large-scale, multilingual projects.
Tip: If you're involved or ready to start a large-scale multilingual project, consider using Bazel. Not only does it help you manage your project effectively, but it also ensures that your builds are correct and reproducible, which is critical in many projects.When choosing the right build system, it needs to be evaluated based on project needs, team expertise, and scalability requirements.
As previously discussed, each tool has its own unique advantages. However, in my opinion, Bit, with its modern characteristics, stands out as one of the best build systems to consider in 2024.
Descriptive package name: BIT uses descriptive package name to maintain modules and components, without aliases, to improve clarity.
Automatic dependency detection: BIT automatically detects dependencies and intelligently solves them, simplifying the development process without the need for redundant packagesjson file.
Reusable development environment: BIT provides a reusable development environment with all the necessary tools and configurations, reducing the need for configuration files, such as tsconfigJSON, Ecliptic, or Prettier to promote consistency in development setups.
Independent component building: The components in the BIT are built independently to ensure the efficiency of the build process, and only the modified components will be rebuilt. Build multiple sibling components in parallel to further optimize overall build performance.
Preview and auto-generate documents: Each bit component is an asset with auto-generated documents and previews, enhancing collaboration and simplifying component functional understanding.
Component Builder: BIT uses pre-built templates to quickly create new components through the Component Builder, accelerating development and maintaining consistency in development standards.
Flexibility of development strategies: As a diversified development strategy enabler, BIT can be used alone or in parallel with other monorepo solutions. It can also be used as a polyrepo solution, or as part of a fully distributed library where the remote hosting of components serves as the only source of truth.
Using a modern front-end CI:Bit leverages its Ripple CI to automatically deploy changes in the component tree, giving the team more operational peace of mind and adding more business value.
Understanding the subtle strengths and weaknesses of each build system is critical to making informed decisions based on the specific needs and size of your project. While each tool has its own unique value, the component-centric development and adaptability that BIT emphasizes makes it a unifying force for modern development workflows in 2024. Hope this article was helpful to you.