State of JavaScript: Insights from the latest JavaScript developer survey

Vite’s rating on the “Used it and want to use it again” chart is an impressive 72%. WebPack holds a 48% ranking by the same measure. The difference between the two probably reflects Vite being specifically designed to improve on the previous generation of build tools like WebPack. These numbers may also reflect the reality that the more a tool is used, the more gripes people tend to have with it. Users tend become increasingly aware of and grumpy about a tool’s flaws with extended use. As tools become more established, they are also embedded into more projects, whether we like it or not.

That latter consideration probably figures large in the dissatisfaction (“negative sentiment”) from previous users, where WebPack shows a whopping 48% negative experience versus 1.34% for Vite.

The TypeScript command-line tooling (TSC CLI) seems to have peaked a couple of years ago and ranks at a still respectable 43% in the “used it, would use again” category. Additional build tools considered are Rollup, Parcel, SWC, TurboPack, tsup, and Biome. If you think that’s a lot of build tools for JavaScript, you are not alone!