Frontend Build Tool
Problem
We need to choose a build tool for the React frontend of our application that can bundle various types of assets, such as JavaScript, CSS, and images that can be efficiently loaded by the browser.
Constraints
- The build tool must provide optimization features such as tree shaking to reduce bundle size.
- The build tool must have good documentation and a large community of users.
- The build tool should provide good performance and fast build times.
Assumptions
- The build tool's learning curve will not be too steep for the development team.
- The build tool will not add unnecessary bloat to the app.
Considered Alternatives
- Webpack: Webpack is a popular and widely-used build tool that has good support for React. It has a large plugin ecosystem and can handle a wide range of use cases. However, it can have a steep learning curve and may require a lot of configuration to set up.
- Rollup: Rollup is focused on providing efficient tree-shaking and code-splitting to reduce bundle size. It has a simpler configuration than Webpack and a good support community.
- Parcel: Parcel is a newer build tool that is known for its simplicity and fast performance.
Decision
We will use Vite as the build tool for the React frontend of our application.
Rationale
In general, Vite offers a faster and more efficient development experience. It serves individual ES modules to the browser during development, allowing it to start up nearly instantly. Hot Module Replacement(HMR) only needs to replace one small file instead of rebundling the entire app, making rebuilds quick. Vite also uses Rollup underneath for production builds to perform an aggressive dead-code elimination (tree shaking), which in general results in smaller bundle sizes.