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Grunt

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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.

Decisions about Grunt and Parcel

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.

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Pros of Grunt
Pros of Parcel
  • 288
    Configuration
  • 176
    Open source
  • 166
    Automation of minification and live reload
  • 60
    Great community
  • 7
    SASS compilation
  • 10
    Zero configuration
  • 8
    Built-in dev server with livereload

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Cons of Grunt
Cons of Parcel
  • 1
    Poor mindshare/community support
  • 3
    Lack of documentation

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What is Grunt?

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.

What is Parcel?

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

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What companies use Grunt?
What companies use Parcel?
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What tools integrate with Parcel?

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What are some alternatives to Grunt and Parcel?
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
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.
npm
npm is the command-line interface to the npm ecosystem. It is battle-tested, surprisingly flexible, and used by hundreds of thousands of JavaScript developers every day.
Yarn
Yarn caches every package it downloads so it never needs to again. It also parallelizes operations to maximize resource utilization so install times are faster than ever.
Gradle
Gradle is a build tool with a focus on build automation and support for multi-language development. If you are building, testing, publishing, and deploying software on any platform, Gradle offers a flexible model that can support the entire development lifecycle from compiling and packaging code to publishing web sites.
See all alternatives