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  1. Stackups
  2. DevOps
  3. Build Automation
  4. Javascript Build Tools
  5. Grunt vs Parcel

Grunt vs Parcel

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

Grunt
Grunt
Stacks8.8K
Followers5.6K
Votes697
GitHub Stars12.3K
Forks1.5K
Parcel
Parcel
Stacks874
Followers250
Votes18
GitHub Stars44.0K
Forks2.3K

Grunt vs Parcel: What are the differences?

<Write Introduction here>
  1. Bundle Size: One key difference between Grunt and Parcel is in how they handle bundle size. Grunt tends to produce larger bundles compared to Parcel due to its less efficient bundling process.

  2. Configuration: Grunt requires manual configuration through a Gruntfile, where explicit tasks need to be defined, while Parcel has zero configuration by default, making it easier to set up and use.

  3. Speed: Parcel is known for its quick build times as it utilizes a multi-core processing system, resulting in faster compilation times compared to Grunt, which may feel slower due to its single-core processing approach.

  4. Built-in Features: Grunt relies heavily on plugins for various tasks such as minification, linting, etc., whereas Parcel comes with most of these features built-in, reducing the need for additional plugins.

  5. Tree-shaking: Parcel excels in tree-shaking, a process that eliminates unused code from the final bundle, resulting in smaller file sizes and improved loading times, while Grunt may struggle with this optimization technique.

  6. Dependency Management: Grunt does not manage dependencies automatically, requiring manual installation and configuration, while Parcel handles dependencies seamlessly without the need for additional setup or intervention.

In Summary, Grunt and Parcel differ in bundle size, configuration ease, speed, built-in features, tree-shaking capabilities, and dependency management.

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Advice on Grunt, Parcel

António
António

Apr 13, 2021

Decided

Very simple to use and a great way to optimize repetitive tasks, like optimize PNG images, convert to WebP, create sprite images with CSS.

I didn't choose Grunt because of the fact it uses files and Gulp uses memory, making it faster for my use case since I need to work with 3000+ small images. And the fact Gulp has 32k+ stars on GitHub.

38.5k views38.5k
Comments

Detailed Comparison

Grunt
Grunt
Parcel
Parcel

The less work you have to do when performing repetitive tasks like minification, compilation, unit testing, linting, etc, the easier your job becomes. After you've configured it, a task runner can do most of that mundane work for you—and your team—with basically zero effort.

Parcel is a web application bundler, differentiated by its developer experience. It offers blazing fast performance utilizing multicore processing, and requires zero configuration.

-
Blazing fast bundle times; Bundle all your assets; Automatic transforms; Zero config code splitting; Hot module replacement; Friendly error logging
Statistics
GitHub Stars
12.3K
GitHub Stars
44.0K
GitHub Forks
1.5K
GitHub Forks
2.3K
Stacks
8.8K
Stacks
874
Followers
5.6K
Followers
250
Votes
697
Votes
18
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 288
    Configuration
  • 176
    Open source
  • 166
    Automation of minification and live reload
  • 60
    Great community
  • 7
    SASS compilation
Cons
  • 1
    Poor mindshare/community support
Pros
  • 10
    Zero configuration
  • 8
    Built-in dev server with livereload
Cons
  • 3
    Lack of documentation
Integrations
No integrations available
JavaScript
JavaScript

What are some alternatives to Grunt, Parcel?

gulp

gulp

Build system automating tasks: minification and copying of all JavaScript files, static images. More capable of watching files to automatically rerun the task when a file changes.

Webpack

Webpack

A bundler for javascript and friends. Packs many modules into a few bundled assets. Code Splitting allows to load parts for the application on demand. Through "loaders" modules can be CommonJs, AMD, ES6 modules, CSS, Images, JSON, Coffeescript, LESS, ... and your custom stuff.

Brunch

Brunch

Brunch is an assembler for HTML5 applications. It's agnostic to frameworks, libraries, programming, stylesheet & templating languages and backend technology.

rollup

rollup

It is a module bundler for JavaScript which compiles small pieces of code into something larger and more complex, such as a library or application. It uses the new standardized format for code modules included in the ES6 revision of JavaScript, instead of previous idiosyncratic solutions such as CommonJS and AMD.

Backpack

Backpack

Backpack is minimalistic build system for Node.js. Inspired by Facebook's create-react-app, Zeit's Next.js, and Remy's Nodemon, Backpack lets you create modern Node.js apps and services with zero configuration. Backpack handles all the file-watching, live-reloading, transpiling, and bundling, so you don't have to.

Vite

Vite

It is an opinionated web dev build tool that serves your code via native ES Module imports during dev and bundles it with Rollup for production.

Pingy CLI

Pingy CLI

Gulp and Grunt and other heavyweight build tools are great for complicated build workflows. Sometimes you want something simpler that doesn't take lots of configuration to get up and running. That's Pingy CLI.

Microbundle

Microbundle

Zero-configuration bundler for tiny modules, powered by Rollup.

System.js

System.js

It is a Universal Module Loader for JavaScript. If you've used RequireJs or a CommonJs bundler in the past, you have probably created modules.Configurable module loader enabling dynamic ES module workflows in browsers and NodeJS.

Esbuild

Esbuild

It is an extremely fast JavaScript and CSS bundler and minifier. Current build tools for the web are 10-100x slower than they could be. The main goal of this project is to bring about a new era of build tool performance, and create an easy-to-use modern bundler along the way.

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