Introduction:
JavaScript runtimes have come a long way in the past few years. From Node.js to Deno and many others, developers now have several excellent options for building fast and efficient JavaScript applications. One of the newest players in this space is bun.js - a fast all-in-one JavaScript runtime created by Jarred Sumner and the team at Oven.sh.
In this post, we'll take a quick look at what makes bun.js special and why you should consider it for your next JavaScript project.
What is bun.js?
Bun is a JavaScript runtime built in Zig - a low-level programming language that compiles to native code. This allows bun to execute JavaScript at near-native speeds without the overhead of compilers or interpreters.
Some key features and benefits of bun include:
Blazing fast start up and execution - benchmarks show bun starting up and running code faster than Node.js and Deno.
All-in-one runtime - bun handles everything from package management to transpilation out of the box. No need for separate build tools.
Excellent TypeScript support - bun has first-class support for TypeScript with no extra configuration required.
APIs compatible with Node.js - bun implements the native Node.js APIs which makes it easy to migrate existing projects.
Lightweight - bun has a small runtime footprint around 7 MB compared to 100+ MB for Node.js
Why Choose bun.js?
There are a few key reasons why bun.js stands out from other JavaScript runtimes:
Speed - The biggest selling point is raw speed. bun achieves incredible performance by compiling JavaScript directly to machine code using LLVM. This eliminates interpreter overhead.
Simplicity - Getting started with bun.js is simple. There's no complex configuration or build setup. Just install and start coding.
Latest JavaScript features - bun supports the latest JS features like top-level await out of the box. No need to wait for these to be implemented in Node first.
Easy migration - Using the native Node.js APIs makes migrating existing projects to bun straightforward.
Developer experience - bun provides excellent TypeScript support, fast error reporting, dependency graphs, and other features to enhance developer experience.
Summary
Bun.js brings a unique approach to running JavaScript and TypeScript outside the browser. By compiling code directly to machine language, it unlocks speed and performance not possible in traditional interpreted environments.
So if you're looking for a fast, lightweight and developer-friendly runtime for your next JavaScript or TypeScript project, give bun.js a try!
Top comments (2)
It really isn't time to ditch Node, not in production, not for a platform that is yet to have proper Windows support. I have great hopes for the future of Bun, but I'll be waiting a bit before trying it in side projects and a long time before using it in production.
Also it uses JavaScriptCore instead of V8 - it does not compile directly to machine code - it's hard to get a good AoT compiler for JavaScript as it's so flexible and dynamic.
It’s time to ditch the bloody windows and v8 and everything because buns are nice and shiny and tasty and whatnot!!! 🥹