browserslist

What is browserslist?

The browserslist npm package is used to share target browsers and Node.js versions between different front-end tools, like Autoprefixer, Babel, and others. It utilizes a configuration file or package.json entries to specify the range of browser versions that your project supports. It helps in making decisions for transpiling JavaScript, adding vendor prefixes to CSS, and even defining which browser versions to test during the development process.

What are browserslist's main functionalities?

Defining target browsers

This feature allows you to define a range of browsers your project supports by specifying queries like market share, last versions, or excluding certain browsers. The code sample would typically be placed in a package.json file.

"browserslist": ["> 1%", "last 2 versions", "not dead"]

Integration with build tools

Browserslist can be integrated with build tools like Webpack, Babel, or PostCSS to automatically apply browser-specific transformations based on the defined browser support criteria.

const browserslist = require('browserslist');
const supportedBrowsers = browserslist('> 0.5%, last 2 versions, Firefox ESR, not dead');

CLI Usage

Browserslist provides a command-line interface (CLI) that can be used to check which browsers and versions are selected by your queries.

npx browserslist "> 1%, last 2 versions"

Configuring environments

You can define different sets of browsers for various environments, like production or development, within a .browserslistrc file.

[production]
> 1% in US
[development]
last 1 chrome version

Other packages similar to browserslist

caniuse-api

The caniuse-api provides raw browser support data from Can I Use, which is similar to the data that browserslist uses. However, it focuses more on querying specific features for browser support rather than defining a list of supported browsers for a project.

autoprefixer

Autoprefixer is a CSS post-processor that uses browserslist to add vendor prefixes to CSS rules. It is a consumer of browserslist data rather than a direct alternative, but it serves a similar purpose in terms of browser compatibility.

@babel/preset-env

Babel's preset-env is a smart preset that allows you to use the latest JavaScript without needing to micromanage which syntax transforms are needed by your target environment. It uses browserslist to determine which features need to be transformed or polyfilled. While not a direct alternative, it shares the goal of adapting code to be compatible with different environments.

README

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