Why Vite?

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Vite is the front-end world's ultimate improv partner! It's not Vite vs React or Vite vs Vue or Vite vs anything else. It's Vite AND React or Vite AND Vue or Vite AND raw js or ts!

Why Vite?

The "Why Vite" page on the official Vite website does a great job of describing why it exists as a tool and why you should choose it.

Read the Bedframe blog post on Why Vite?

The footnotes on that post summarize nicely why Bedframe chooses Vite as its engine of choice in an ecosystem full of options:

  1. Vite is super fast and forward thinking and offers all the things I look for in a front end solution. If it didn't solve the obvious needs first, we wouldn't even be having this slightly more nuanced convo!
  2. I like what the roadmap looks like. The release cycle is predictable, the milestones are accessible... Once a tool is stable enough to start porting functionality to faster languages (Rolldown wen?) you know you've got good shephards and captain at the helm.
  3. I need to be able to articulately justify my tech stack decisions properly without being hand-wavy. Vite lets me do that.
  4. I think Vite and solutions like Vite is where things are going to converge (if they haven't already). With first class support for meta-frameworks and a standardized approach to config and build tooling (for frameworks that opt in), it makes navigating from one framework to another much more efficient! I don't want to get locked in too early to one framework or another! I must assume this increases the adoption / reach / surface area for frameworks that opt to participate. Win:win.

Vite features

Vite delivers on the Optionality Versatility & The Vibes™ but also crucially, on the tangible technical features which are to name a few:

Lightning-Fast Development

Initial server start times are dramatically reduced by pre-bundling dependencies with esbuild, leading to quick feedback and improved developer productivity.

Instant Hot Module Replacement (HMR)

Updates during development are instantaneous, reflecting changes in the browser almost immediately without a full page reload.

Modern JavaScript

Supports ES modules, native JavaScript features allowing for clean, future-proof code.

Built-In TypeScript Support

Handles TypeScript out of the box, ensuring seamless integration and type checking during development.

Enhanced Plugin System

Provides an extensible plugin API compatible with Rollup, making it easy to extend functionality and customize the build process.

Advanced CSS Handling

Automatically processes and injects CSS with support for CSS Modules, PostCSS, and CSS preprocessors like Sass and Less.

Optimized Production Builds

Combines Rollup’s capabilities for production builds, offering efficient bundling, code splitting, and tree-shaking.

Powerful CLI

A simple and effective CLI tool that speeds up development tasks and supports custom commands for various needs.

Flexible Configurations

Offers extensive configuration options to tailor the development and build process to specific project requirements.

News + updates Dispatch

Get occasional updates & helpful tips about making BEDs with Vite