What is @babel/helper-compilation-targets?
The @babel/helper-compilation-targets package is a helper utility used by Babel to determine which JavaScript language features need to be transformed based on the specified compilation targets, such as browsers or Node.js versions. It helps in generating the most efficient and compatible code for the specified environments.
What are @babel/helper-compilation-targets's main functionalities?
Determining necessary plugins/presets
This feature allows you to determine which Babel plugins or presets are necessary to transform your code based on the specified target environments, such as the last two versions of all browsers or Safari versions greater than 7.
const { default: getTargets, filterItems } = require('@babel/helper-compilation-targets');
const targets = getTargets({
browsers: ['last 2 versions', 'safari > 7']
});
const plugins = filterItems(
require('@babel/preset-env/data/plugins'),
targets,
{ ignoreBrowserslistConfig: true }
);
Customizing target environments
This feature enables customization of the target environments for which you are compiling your code. For example, you can specify that you want to target environments that support ES modules or the current version of Node.js.
const { default: getTargets } = require('@babel/helper-compilation-targets');
const targets = getTargets({
esmodules: true,
node: 'current'
});
Other packages similar to @babel/helper-compilation-targets
browserslist
The browserslist package is used to share target browsers and Node.js versions between different front-end tools. It is similar to @babel/helper-compilation-targets in that it helps determine the set of browsers to support for tools like Autoprefixer, eslint-plugin-compat, and stylelint-unsupported-browser-features. However, it is a more general tool and not specific to Babel.
core-js-compat
core-js-compat provides information about compatibility and required polyfills for different environments. It is similar to @babel/helper-compilation-targets in that it helps to determine which features need to be polyfilled based on the target environment. However, core-js-compat focuses on polyfills provided by core-js rather than Babel transformations.