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Glossary · Web development

Bundler (Webpack / Vite / Turbopack)

A build tool that combines source files into optimized production bundles — handles transpilation, tree shaking, minification, and asset hashing.

Definition

In long form.

Modern frontend code is written across hundreds of source files (TypeScript, CSS modules, JSX, image imports). A bundler walks the dependency graph from an entry point, applies transforms (TypeScript → JavaScript, SCSS → CSS, JSX → React.createElement calls), eliminates dead code (tree shaking), splits the result into cacheable chunks, and emits production assets. Webpack was the dominant bundler for years; Vite (Rollup-based) and Turbopack (Rust-based, used by Next.js 15+) are faster modern alternatives.

In context

We don't choose bundlers per project — we choose frameworks, and the framework chooses the bundler. Next.js 15+ uses Turbopack; Astro and Vite-based projects use Vite. Both are fast enough that the bundler is no longer a bottleneck in dev workflow.

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