Bun is a newly created JavaScript runtime, bundler, transpiler, and package manager – all in one. It is designed to be fast, lightweight, and easy to use. Bun is written in Zig, a modern programming language that is known for its performance and safety.
Background
Bun was created by Jared Sumner, a former Stripe engineer. Sumner started working on Bun in 2022, with the goal of creating a faster and more efficient JavaScript runtime than Node.js. Bun was released in early 2023, however, it is still under active development.
What can Bun do?
Bun can be used to do all sorts of things, including:
- Build websites and applications
- Run JavaScript and TypeScript code
- Bundling your code together for production
- Running tests for your code
- Managing your project’s dependencies
- Creating serverless functions
- Building command-line tools
- Developing machine learning and data science applications
Bun has a number of features that make it stand out from other JavaScript runtimes.
- It has a fast startup time than Node.js, making it ideal for serverless applications and other environments where startup time is critical.
- Bun is very memory efficient, making it a good choice for applications that need to run on resource-constrained devices.
- Bun supports TypeScript and JSX, and this makes it a good choice for building modern JavaScript applications.
- Bun includes a built-in bundler, which makes it easy to bundle your JavaScript and CSS code for production.
- Bun includes a built-in test runner, that makes it easy to write and run tests for your JavaScript code.
- Bun is compatible with most Node.js modules. With this, it is easy to migrate your existing Node.js applications to Bun.
- Bun is smaller than Node.js, making it a good choice for applications that need to be deployed in small devices or embedded systems.
- Bun is written in Zig, a language that is designed to be safe and secure. This can help you avoid common programming errors that can lead to security vulnerabilities.
Downsides of Bun
While Bun has many advantages, there are also a few downsides to consider, including:
- Still under development: Bun is still under development, so there may be some bugs or unexpected behavior.
- Smaller community: Bun has a smaller community than Node.js, so there may be fewer resources available, such as documentation and tutorials.
- Not as widely supported: Bun is not as widely supported as Node.js, so you may not be able to use all of the same modules and libraries.
Bun is a powerful tool that can be used to build high-performance JavaScript applications. If you are looking for a fast, lightweight, and easy-to-use JavaScript runtime, Bun is worth considering.