What is rollup?
Rollup is a module bundler for JavaScript which compiles small pieces of code into something larger and more complex, such as a library or application. It is optimized for bundling JavaScript files to use in a browser, and it is also capable of transforming code using plugins.
What are rollup's main functionalities?
Bundling Modules
Rollup can bundle multiple JavaScript modules into a single file. The above code demonstrates how to create a bundle from an entry point file 'src/main.js' and output it as an immediately-invoked function expression (IIFE) to 'bundle.js'.
import rollup from 'rollup';
async function build() {
const bundle = await rollup.rollup({
input: 'src/main.js'
});
await bundle.write({
file: 'bundle.js',
format: 'iife',
name: 'MyModule'
});
}
build();
Tree-shaking
Rollup includes a feature called 'tree-shaking' which removes unused code from the final bundle. This helps in reducing the size of the bundle and improving load times.
import { rollup } from 'rollup';
rollup({
input: 'src/index.js',
treeshake: true // Tree-shaking is enabled by default
}).then(bundle => {
// Code to write the bundle
});
Plugin System
Rollup supports a wide range of plugins that can transform the code, add functionality, or integrate with other build tools. The code sample shows how to use the JSON plugin to import JSON files as modules.
import { rollup } from 'rollup';
import json from '@rollup/plugin-json';
rollup({
input: 'src/index.js',
plugins: [json()]
}).then(bundle => {
// Code to write the bundle
});
Other packages similar to rollup
webpack
Webpack is a powerful module bundler that can handle not only JavaScript but also assets like images, fonts, and stylesheets. It has a larger ecosystem and more configuration options compared to Rollup, making it more suitable for complex applications.
parcel
Parcel is a web application bundler that offers a zero-configuration experience. It is known for its fast build times and out-of-the-box support for various file types. Parcel is easier to set up than Rollup and Webpack but may offer less fine-grained control.
browserify
Browserify allows you to use `require('modules')` in the browser by bundling up all of your dependencies. It is one of the earlier bundlers and is focused on simplicity and ease of use, but it doesn't have built-in tree-shaking like Rollup.
Rollup
Overview
Rollup is a module bundler for JavaScript which compiles small pieces of code into something larger and more complex, such as a library or application. It uses the standardized ES module format for code, instead of previous idiosyncratic solutions such as CommonJS and AMD. ES modules let you freely and seamlessly combine the most useful individual functions from your favorite libraries. Rollup can optimize ES modules for faster native loading in modern browsers, or output a legacy module format allowing ES module workflows today.
Quick Start Guide
Install with npm install --global rollup
. Rollup can be used either through a command line interface with an optional configuration file or else through its JavaScript API. Run rollup --help
to see the available options and parameters. The starter project templates, rollup-starter-lib and rollup-starter-app, demonstrate common configuration options, and more detailed instructions are available throughout the user guide.
Commands
These commands assume the entry point to your application is named main.js, and that you'd like all imports compiled into a single file named bundle.js.
For browsers:
rollup main.js --format iife --name "myBundle" --file bundle.js
For Node.js:
rollup main.js --format cjs --file bundle.js
For both browsers and Node.js:
rollup main.js --format umd --name "myBundle" --file bundle.js
Why
Developing software is usually easier if you break your project into smaller separate pieces, since that often removes unexpected interactions and dramatically reduces the complexity of the problems you'll need to solve, and simply writing smaller projects in the first place isn't necessarily the answer. Unfortunately, JavaScript has not historically included this capability as a core feature in the language.
This finally changed with ES modules support in JavaScript, which provides a syntax for importing and exporting functions and data so they can be shared between separate scripts. Most browsers and Node.js support ES modules. However, Node.js releases before 12.17 support ES modules only behind the --experimental-modules
flag, and older browsers like Internet Explorer do not support ES modules at all. Rollup allows you to write your code using ES modules, and run your application even in environments that do not support ES modules natively. For environments that support them, Rollup can output optimized ES modules; for environments that don't, Rollup can compile your code to other formats such as CommonJS modules, AMD modules, and IIFE-style scripts. This means that you get to write future-proof code, and you also get the tremendous benefits of...
Tree Shaking
In addition to enabling the use of ES modules, Rollup also statically analyzes and optimizes the code you are importing, and will exclude anything that isn't actually used. This allows you to build on top of existing tools and modules without adding extra dependencies or bloating the size of your project.
For example, with CommonJS, the entire tool or library must be imported.
var utils = require('utils');
var query = 'Rollup';
utils.ajax('https://api.example.com?search=' + query).then(handleResponse);
But with ES modules, instead of importing the whole utils
object, we can just import the one ajax
function we need:
import { ajax } from 'utils';
var query = 'Rollup';
ajax('https://api.example.com?search=' + query).then(handleResponse);
Because Rollup includes the bare minimum, it results in lighter, faster, and less complicated libraries and applications. Since this approach is based on explicit import
and export
statements, it is vastly more effective than simply running an automated minifier to detect unused variables in the compiled output code.
Compatibility
Importing CommonJS
Rollup can import existing CommonJS modules through a plugin.
Publishing ES Modules
To make sure your ES modules are immediately usable by tools that work with CommonJS such as Node.js and webpack, you can use Rollup to compile to UMD or CommonJS format, and then point to that compiled version with the main
property in your package.json
file. If your package.json
file also has a module
field, ES-module-aware tools like Rollup and webpack will import the ES module version directly.
Contributors
This project exists thanks to all the people who contribute. [Contribute]. ![](https://opencollective.com/rollup/contributors.svg?width=890)
Backers
Thank you to all our backers! 🙏 [Become a backer]
![](https://opencollective.com/rollup/backers.svg?width=890)
Support this project by becoming a sponsor. Your logo will show up here with a link to your website. [Become a sponsor]
![](https://opencollective.com/rollup/sponsor/9/avatar.svg)
License
MIT