Toolchain

Runtime

• Node.js is currently the most used JavaScript runtime. It was introduced in 2008 and is based on the V8 JavaScript engine. Node.js does not support TypeScript by itself, but there is third-party tooling available for that [TypeStrong/ts-node, esbuild-kit/tsx].

• Deno is a JavaScript, TypeScript, and WebAssembly runtime that is based on the V8 engine. It was introduced in 2018. Deno aims to be largely npm-compatible.

• workerd is Cloudflare's JavaScript/Wasm runtime. It was open sourced in 2022.

• Bun is a JavaScript runtime that is based on the Apple JavaScriptCore engine. Bun has a built-in transpiler for TypeScript/JSX, bundler, and shell. And it includes a npm-compatible package manager. Bun was introduced in 2021.

• wasmtime is a runtime for WebAssembly.

WinterCG (Web-interoperable Runtimes Community Group) is a community group aiming to improve interoperability of web platform APIs among runtimes. This is important to avoid/reduce API fragmentation between different runtimes. But there are still many differences and incompatibilities between runtimes [runtime-compat.unjs.io].

Parser

• rust-cssparser - CSS Parser.
• rust-selectors - Parser for CSS selectors.

Linter / Formatter

• ESLint - Lint and fix JavaScript (and TypeScript).
• Biome
• Oxc
• Prettier - Opinionated code formatter for JavaScript/TypeScript, HTML, CSS, and more.
• Standard - JavaScript Style Guide, with linter & automatic code fixer.
• Stylelint - Linter for CSS, SCSS, Sass, Less, and SugarSS.
• XO - JavaScript/TypeScript linter based on ESLint.

CSS Preprocessors

• Less - It's CSS, with just a little more.
• PostCSS - Tool for transforming CSS with JavaScript.
  • PostCSS Plugins
  • SugarSS - Indent-based CSS syntax for PostCSS.
• Sass - CSS with superpowers (often called SCSS).
• Stylus - Expressive, robust, feature-rich CSS language built for nodejs.

There are tools available to convert from one preprocessor to another [csspre.com].

Compiler / Transpiler / Bundler / Dev Server

• Babel - JavaScript compiler mainly used to achieve backward compatibility with older browsers.
• esbuild - Bundler/minifier for JavaScript and CSS.
• Parcel - Compiler/bundler for JavaScript (using SWC), style sheets, and other files.
• rollup.js - Module bundler for JavaScript, often used to bundle JS libraries.
• Sucrase - Alternative to Babel that focuses on compiling non-standard language extensions: JSX, TypeScript, and Flow.
• SWC - Compiler and bundler for JavaScript/TypeScript (currently without type checking).
• TurboPack - Incremental bundler optimized for JavaScript and TypeScript, written in Rust.
• TypeScript - JavaScript with syntax for types that compiles down to JavaScript.
• Vite - Dev server (based on esbuild) and bundler (based on rollup.js).
• Web Dev Server
• Webpack - Bundle JavaScript, style sheets, and images.

A comparison of different bundlers can be found at bundlers.tooling.report.

Minifier

• Lightning CSS - CSS parser, transformer, bundler, and minifier.
• csso - CSS minifier with structural optimizations.