browser-sync vs live-server

Overview

browser-sync

Stacks827

Followers3

Votes0

GitHub Stars12.1K

Forks791

live-server

Stacks88

Followers2

Votes0

GitHub Stars4.2K

Forks490

browser-sync vs live-server: What are the differences?

# Introduction

The key differences between browser-sync and live-server are crucial to understand when choosing a development server tool for web development.

1. **Installation**:
   Browser-sync requires a global installation and is run from the command line, while live-server can be installed locally within a project and launched with a simple command, making it easier to manage dependencies.

2. **Configuration**:
   Browser-sync offers more extensive configuration options, including options for proxying, tunneling, and browser reloading options, allowing for more customization compared to live-server's simpler configuration setup.

3. **Multi-device syncing**:
   Browser-sync allows for syncing actions like clicks, scrolls, and form inputs across multiple devices in real-time, making it ideal for testing websites on various devices simultaneously, a feature not available in live-server.

4. **File watching accuracy**:
   Live-server's file-watching feature is known to be less accurate and may sometimes require manual refreshes to reflect changes made in the codebase, whereas browser-sync's file-watching is more reliable, ensuring instant updates to the browser.

5. **Built-in server**:
   Live-server comes with a built-in static server that serves files from the project directory, simplifying the setup process, while browser-sync requires manual configuration of a server for file serving, adding to the initial setup complexity.

6. **Community support**:
   Browser-sync has a larger and more active community, providing extensive documentation, tutorials, and support channels compared to live-server, which may have limited resources for troubleshooting and assistance.

In Summary, understanding the key distinctions between browser-sync and live-server is essential for determining which development server tool aligns best with your project requirements.

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CLI (Node.js)

Manual

Detailed Comparison

browser-sync	live-server
Live CSS Reload & Browser Syncing.	Simple development http server with live reload capability.
Statistics
GitHub Stars 12.1K	GitHub Stars 4.2K
GitHub Forks 791	GitHub Forks 490
Stacks 827	Stacks 88
Followers 3	Followers 2
Votes 0	Votes 0

What are some alternatives to browser-sync, live-server?

typescript

TypeScript is a language for application scale JavaScript development.

eslint

An AST-based pattern checker for JavaScript.

react

React is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces.

@types/node

TypeScript definitions for Node.js.

prettier

Prettier is an opinionated code formatter.

react-dom

React package for working with the DOM.

jest

Delightful JavaScript Testing.

express

Fast, unopinionated, minimalist web framework.

mocha

Simple, flexible, fun test framework.

webpack

Packs CommonJs/AMD modules for the browser. Allows to split your codebase into multiple bundles, which can be loaded on demand. Support loaders to preprocess files, i.e. json, jsx, es7, css, less, ... and your custom stuff.

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browser-sync vs live-server: What are the differences?

# Introduction

The key differences between browser-sync and live-server are crucial to understand when choosing a development server tool for web development.

1. **Installation**:
   Browser-sync requires a global installation and is run from the command line, while live-server can be installed locally within a project and launched with a simple command, making it easier to manage dependencies.

2. **Configuration**:
   Browser-sync offers more extensive configuration options, including options for proxying, tunneling, and browser reloading options, allowing for more customization compared to live-server's simpler configuration setup.

3. **Multi-device syncing**:
   Browser-sync allows for syncing actions like clicks, scrolls, and form inputs across multiple devices in real-time, making it ideal for testing websites on various devices simultaneously, a feature not available in live-server.

4. **File watching accuracy**:
   Live-server's file-watching feature is known to be less accurate and may sometimes require manual refreshes to reflect changes made in the codebase, whereas browser-sync's file-watching is more reliable, ensuring instant updates to the browser.

5. **Built-in server**:
   Live-server comes with a built-in static server that serves files from the project directory, simplifying the setup process, while browser-sync requires manual configuration of a server for file serving, adding to the initial setup complexity.

6. **Community support**:
   Browser-sync has a larger and more active community, providing extensive documentation, tutorials, and support channels compared to live-server, which may have limited resources for troubleshooting and assistance.

In Summary, understanding the key distinctions between browser-sync and live-server is essential for determining which development server tool aligns best with your project requirements.