Babel vs Closure Compiler

Overview

Babel

Stacks27.3K

Followers11.0K

Votes391

GitHub Stars43.8K

Forks5.8K

Closure Compiler

Stacks281

Followers62

Votes5

GitHub Stars7.6K

Forks1.2K

Babel vs Closure Compiler: What are the differences?

Introduction

Babel and Closure Compiler are both popular tools used in web development. However, there are key differences between them that make each of them suitable for different scenarios.

Babel: Babel is a JavaScript compiler that allows developers to write code in the latest version of JavaScript and converts it into backward-compatible versions for older browsers. It focuses on code transformation and is primarily used for language features and syntax enhancements.
Closure Compiler: Closure Compiler, on the other hand, is a JavaScript optimizer, transpiler, and minifier. It not only compiles the code into an older version, but also performs advanced code optimizations to make the resulting code smaller, faster, and more efficient. It focuses on code optimization and is primarily used for performance enhancements.
Output Size: Babel's primary goal is to enable the use of modern JavaScript features, so the resulting output is often larger as it includes the necessary polyfills and transformations. Closure Compiler, on the other hand, performs aggressive code optimizations, resulting in a smaller output size.
Runtime Performance: Babel does not optimize code for better runtime performance, as its main focus is on language features and syntax. Closure Compiler, however, applies various advanced optimizations, such as dead code elimination and code inlining, to improve runtime performance.
Type Checking: Babel does not perform any type checking itself. It relies on type annotations provided by external tools like TypeScript or Flow. Closure Compiler, on the other hand, has its own built-in type checking system that helps catch type errors and provides benefits like better optimizations based on type information.
Modularity: Babel operates on a per-file basis and can be used as a standalone tool in a modular fashion. Developers can choose specific plugins or presets to customize the transformation process. Closure Compiler, on the other hand, typically works on an entire codebase and requires a more comprehensive configuration. It performs global optimizations that may require understanding the entire codebase.

In Summary, Babel focuses on language features and syntax transformations, while Closure Compiler emphasizes code optimization, resulting in smaller output size and improved runtime performance.

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CLI (Node.js)

Manual

Detailed Comparison

Babel	Closure Compiler
Babel will turn your ES6+ code into ES5 friendly code, so you can start using it right now without waiting for browser support.	The Closure Compiler is a tool for making JavaScript download and run faster. It is a true compiler for JavaScript. Instead of compiling from a source language to machine code, it compiles from JavaScript to better JavaScript. It parses your JavaScript, analyzes it, removes dead code and rewrites and minimizes what's left. It also checks syntax, variable references, and types, and warns about common JavaScript pitfalls.
Array comprehensions; Arrow functions; Async functions; Async generator functions; Classes; Class properties; Computed property names; Constants; Decorators; Default parameters; Destructuring; Exponentiation operator; For-of; Generators; Generator comprehensions; Let scoping; Modules; Module export extensions; Object rest/spread; Property method assignment; Property name shorthand; Rest parameters; React; Spread; Tail call optimisation; Template literals; Type annotations; Unicode regex; JSX; React; Flow; Node.js; Meteor; Rails; Broccoli; Browserify; Require.js; Brunch; Duo; Gobble; Grunt; Gulp; Make; Webpack; Connect; Jade; Jest; Karma; Mocha; Nodemon	parses JavaScript, analyzes it, removes dead code and rewrites and minimizes what's left; checks syntax, variable references, and types, and warns about common JavaScript pitfalls; transpiling some ECMAScript 6 code to ECMAScript 3
Statistics
GitHub Stars 43.8K	GitHub Stars 7.6K
GitHub Forks 5.8K	GitHub Forks 1.2K
Stacks 27.3K	Stacks 281
Followers 11.0K	Followers 62
Votes 391	Votes 5
Pros & Cons
Pros 165 Modern Javascript works with all browsers 77 Open source 60 Integration with lots of tools 56 Easy setup 26 Very active on github	Pros 1 The best performing output 1 Small output size 1 Dead code elimination 1 ES6 support 1 Bundle support for CommonJS, ES6, .
Integrations
Grunt Broccoli Browserify Brunch Duo gulp RequireJS	No integrations available

What are some alternatives to Babel, Closure Compiler?

Modernizr

It’s a collection of superfast tests or detects as we like to call them which run as your web page loads, then you can use the results to tailor the experience to the user. It tells you what HTML, CSS and JavaScript features the user’s browser has to offer.

Rome

It is a linter, compiler, bundler, and more for JavaScript, TypeScript, JSON, HTML, Markdown, and CSS. It is designed to replace Babel, ESLint, webpack, Prettier, Jest, and others. It unifies functionality that has previously been separate tools. Building upon a shared base allows us to provide a cohesive experience for processing code, displaying errors, parallelizing work, caching, and configuration.

Scala.js

It is a safer way to build robust front-end web applications. With it, typos and type-errors are immediately caught and shown to you in your editor, without even needing to compile your code. Refactor any field or method with ease, with the confidence that if you mess it up the editor will tell you immediately

Rome

It is an experimental JavaScript toolchain. It includes a compiler, linter, formatter, bundler, testing framework and more. It aims to be a comprehensive tool for anything related to the processing of JavaScript source code.

Hermes

It is a JavaScript engine optimized for fast start up of React Native apps on Android. It features ahead-of-time static optimization and compact bytecode.

Sucrase

Sucrase is an alternative to Babel that allows super-fast development builds. Instead of compiling a large range of JS features down to ES5, Sucrase assumes that you're targeting a modern JS runtime (e.g. Node.js 8 or latest Chrome) and focuses on compiling non-standard language extensions: JSX, TypeScript, and Flow.

Emscripten

This allows applications and libraries originally designed to run as standard executables to be integrated into client side web applications.

Fable.io

It is a compiler powered by Babel designed to make F# a first-class citizen of the JavaScript ecosystem.

QuickJS

It supports the ES2019 specification including modules, asynchronous generators and proxies. It optionally supports mathematical extensions such as big integers (BigInt), big floating point numbers (BigFloat) and operator overloading.

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Babel vs Closure Compiler: What are the differences?

Introduction

Babel and Closure Compiler are both popular tools used in web development. However, there are key differences between them that make each of them suitable for different scenarios.

Babel: Babel is a JavaScript compiler that allows developers to write code in the latest version of JavaScript and converts it into backward-compatible versions for older browsers. It focuses on code transformation and is primarily used for language features and syntax enhancements.
Closure Compiler: Closure Compiler, on the other hand, is a JavaScript optimizer, transpiler, and minifier. It not only compiles the code into an older version, but also performs advanced code optimizations to make the resulting code smaller, faster, and more efficient. It focuses on code optimization and is primarily used for performance enhancements.
Output Size: Babel's primary goal is to enable the use of modern JavaScript features, so the resulting output is often larger as it includes the necessary polyfills and transformations. Closure Compiler, on the other hand, performs aggressive code optimizations, resulting in a smaller output size.
Runtime Performance: Babel does not optimize code for better runtime performance, as its main focus is on language features and syntax. Closure Compiler, however, applies various advanced optimizations, such as dead code elimination and code inlining, to improve runtime performance.
Type Checking: Babel does not perform any type checking itself. It relies on type annotations provided by external tools like TypeScript or Flow. Closure Compiler, on the other hand, has its own built-in type checking system that helps catch type errors and provides benefits like better optimizations based on type information.
Modularity: Babel operates on a per-file basis and can be used as a standalone tool in a modular fashion. Developers can choose specific plugins or presets to customize the transformation process. Closure Compiler, on the other hand, typically works on an entire codebase and requires a more comprehensive configuration. It performs global optimizations that may require understanding the entire codebase.

In Summary, Babel focuses on language features and syntax transformations, while Closure Compiler emphasizes code optimization, resulting in smaller output size and improved runtime performance.