Introduction to Vite: A Frontend Build Tool

7 min readJul 28, 2023

The landscape of frontend development has been constantly evolving, with new tools and technologies emerging to make the developer’s life easier. Among these tools, build tools play a crucial role, helping developers bundle their code, manage dependencies, and optimize their applications. Webpack has long been a popular choice in this domain, but a new contender has entered the arena. Meet Vite, a next-generation frontend build tool that promises to bring speed and simplicity to your development workflow.

What is Vite?

Vite (French for “fast”) is a modern build tool created by Evan You, the creator of Vue.js. But don’t let its origins fool you — Vite is not just for Vue. It’s a universal frontend build tool that can be used with any framework, or even with vanilla JavaScript.

At its core, Vite aims to provide a faster and leaner development experience for modern web projects. It achieves this through two main features: an esbuild-powered build process for lightning-fast bundling, and a dev server with Hot Module Replacement (HMR) that updates your app as you code.

Vite’s focus on speed and efficiency doesn’t mean it skimps on features. It comes with out-of-the-box support for TypeScript, JSX, CSS pre-processors, and more. Plus, it’s highly configurable, so you can tailor it to fit your project’s needs.

In the next section, we’ll delve into how Vite improves upon older tools like Webpack, and why you might want to consider it for your next project.

How Does Vite Improve Over Older Tools Like Webpack?

When it comes to frontend development, build tools are a crucial part of the process. They help us bundle our code, manage dependencies, and optimize our applications. For a long time, Webpack has been the go-to choice for many developers. However, as our applications grow in complexity, so does our build configuration. This is where Vite comes in.

Vite, a French word for “fast”, lives up to its name. It’s a new breed of build tool that aims to provide a leaner, faster development experience. But how does it achieve this? Let’s break it down:

Speed: Vite leverages the native ES Modules (ESM) support in modern browsers during development. This means it only needs to update the code you’ve changed, not the entire application, resulting in a significantly faster update speed compared to Webpack.
Out-of-the-box features: Vite comes with many features out of the box, such as hot module replacement (HMR), CSS pre-processing, and TypeScript support. While Webpack can also support these features, it often requires additional configuration or plugins.
Simplicity: Vite aims to reduce configuration fatigue. It has sensible defaults that work out of the box for many applications, and the configuration file is much simpler than a typical Webpack config.
Optimized Build: When it’s time to build your application for production, Vite uses Rollup to bundle your code. Rollup is known for generating smaller bundles thanks to its efficient tree-shaking.
Plugin System: Vite utilizes Rollup’s plugin system, which is simpler and more straightforward than Webpack’s. If you’ve ever struggled with configuring Webpack plugins, you’ll appreciate the simplicity of working with Vite plugins.
First-class CSS Support: Vite treats CSS as a first-class citizen. It supports CSS @import and url() out of the box and even allows you to import CSS directly from JavaScript.

Setting Up a Project with Vite

Vite makes it incredibly easy to set up a new project. Whether you’re working with Vue, React, or vanilla JavaScript, Vite has you covered. Let’s walk through the process of setting up a new project with Vite.

Step 1: Install Vite

First things first, you need to have Vite installed on your machine. If you haven’t done so already, you can install Vite globally using npm or Yarn:

# using npm
npm install -g create-vite

# using Yarn
yarn create vite

Step 2: Create a New Project

Once Vite is installed, you can create a new project using the create-vite command followed by the name of your project:

create-vite my-vite-project

This command will create a new directory with the name you provided (my-vite-project in this case), and it will initialize a new Vite project in that directory.

Step 3: Choose a Template

After running the create-vite command, you will be prompted to choose a template for your project. Vite provides a variety of templates for different frameworks, including Vue, React, Preact, LitElement, and vanilla JavaScript. Choose the one that suits your needs.

Step 4: Install Dependencies

Navigate into your new project directory and install the dependencies:

cd my-vite-project
npm install
# or
yarn

Step 5: Start the Development Server

Now that your project is set up and all dependencies are installed, you can start the development server:

npm run dev
# or
yarn dev

Your application will be available at http://localhost:5000. You can now start building your application with Vite!

Using Vite Plugins

Vite plugins are an integral part of the Vite ecosystem. They allow you to extend Vite’s functionality and tailor it to your specific needs. In this section, we’ll explore how to use Vite plugins in your project.

What are Vite Plugins?

Vite plugins are modules that adhere to a specific API, allowing them to interact with the Vite build process. They can modify input files, transform output, add additional files to the build, and much more.

How to Use Vite Plugins

Using Vite plugins in your project is straightforward. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

Install the Plugin: The first step is to install the plugin. Most Vite plugins are available on npm, so you can install them using npm or Yarn. For example, to install the Vite plugin for React Refresh, you would run:

npm install @vitejs/plugin-react-refresh
# or
yarn add @vitejs/plugin-react-refresh

Import the Plugin: Once the plugin is installed, you need to import it in your vite.config.js file:

import reactRefresh from '@vitejs/plugin-react-refresh';

Use the Plugin: After importing the plugin, you can use it by adding it to the plugins array in your Vite configuration:

// vite.config.js
export default {
  plugins: [reactRefresh()]
}

And that’s it! Vite will automatically use the plugin during the build process.

Creating Your Own Vite Plugin

In addition to using existing Vite plugins, you can also create your own. This allows you to customize the build process to fit your specific needs. Creating a Vite plugin involves defining a JavaScript object that adheres to the Vite plugin API.

Here’s a basic example of a Vite plugin that logs a message during the build process:

// vite.config.js
export default {
  plugins: [{
    name: 'my-plugin',
    apply: 'build',
    buildStart() {
      console.log('Building started!');
    }
  }]
}

In this example, my-plugin is a simple Vite plugin that logs 'Building started!' at the start of the build process.

Vite plugins are a powerful tool for customizing your build process. Whether you’re using existing plugins or creating your own, they can help you tailor Vite to your specific needs.

Best Practices When Using Vite

Vite, as a next-generation front-end build tool, offers a myriad of features that can significantly enhance your development workflow. However, to fully harness its power, it’s crucial to understand and implement some best practices. Here are some recommendations:

Use Vite for Development, Not Just Building

Vite is not merely a build tool. It’s a comprehensive development server that provides hot module replacement and ES modules in the browser. These features can drastically accelerate your development process. So, don’t just use Vite for building your projects; leverage its capabilities during the development phase as well.

// Start the Vite dev server
vite dev

Leverage Vite’s Plugin Ecosystem

Vite boasts a rich plugin ecosystem that can extend its functionality. Whether you need support for TypeScript, Vue, React, or any other popular web technology, there’s likely a Vite plugin for it. Make sure to explore and utilize these plugins to customize Vite to your project’s needs.

// Install a Vite plugin
npm install --save-dev vite-plugin-some-feature

Optimize Your Build Configuration

Under the hood, Vite utilizes Rollup for its build process. This means you can take advantage of Rollup’s advanced code-splitting and tree-shaking capabilities to optimize your build. Spend some time understanding and fine-tuning your build configuration to ensure you’re getting the most out of Vite.

// vite.config.js
export default {
  build: {
    rollupOptions: {
      // your Rollup options here
    }
  }
}

Use Vite’s Built-In Features

Vite comes with many built-in features like CSS code splitting, asset import support, and more. These features can improve your development workflow and make your code more efficient. Don’t overlook these built-in capabilities; use them to their fullest extent.

// Importing a CSS file in a JavaScript module
import './style.css'

Stay Up-to-Date with Vite’s Updates

Vite is actively maintained and frequently updated. Staying up-to-date with the latest updates allows you to take advantage of new features and improvements. Regularly check the Vite GitHub repository or follow the official Vite Twitter account to keep abreast of the latest developments.

# Update Vite to the latest version
npm update vite

By following these best practices, you can ensure that you’re making the most of what Vite has to offer. Happy coding!