The Bun development team has released version 0.6 of Bun, their open source runtime for JavaScript and TypeScript. The team refers to this release as the project’s most significant update yet, as it includes an integrated bundler and minifier for JavaScript and TypeScript, along with various performance improvements and bug fixes. The Zig programming language powers this very fast runtime, which was created as a competitor to Node.js and Deno.
The latest release focuses on the new beta-phase bundler and minifier that allows the bundling of frontend apps, as well as code into a standalone executable. This feature also forms the foundation of a forthcoming component called Bun.App, which the team refers to as the “Super API.” This API will bring together the Bun-native Speed Bundler, the HTTP server, and the file system router. Developers can use the bundler using the CLI command, bun build, or the JavaScript API Bun.build().
Bun developer Jarred Sumner has written a blog entry detailing the reasons behind introducing the new bundler. These include improving performance and avoiding repetitive transpilation. The bundler uses target: “bun” to generate pre-transpiled files and optimize execution performance to prevent unnecessary re-transpilations.
The enterprise JavaScript conference enterJS is set to take place on June 21 and 22, 2023, in Darmstadt, organized by dpunkt.verlag, heise Developer, and iX. The event will focus on JavaScript and TypeScript language innovations, new and established frameworks and tools, accessibility, and software architecture. Attendees will have access to more than 35 lectures and full-day workshops on site and online.
In terms of performance, the release includes innovations such as faster performance and bug fixes. Fas.writeFile is expected to execute 20% faster under Linux with large files. Additionally, the bun transpiler now has parser support for TypeScript 5.0 and import attributes, resolving cyclic import errors from previous npm packages.
More information, including the changelog for the new release, is available on the official Bun blog.
