Node.js, Deno, Bun — which one to use in 2024?
In 2023, the JavaScript world, particularly its backend sector, was shaken by the news of the production-ready release of Bun. Positioned as a prospective rival to Node.js, Bun introduced a new development environment, sparking considerable discussion within the community. And yet, despite Bun's emergence, Node.js remains steadfast in its development trajectory, maintaining its status as the primary tool for efficient JavaScript backend development.
Nevertheless, the evolving landscape prompts consideration of the optimal choice in 2024 - Deno, Bun, or the enduring Node.js?
Deno
Deno, conceived as a refined version of Node.js, has made strides in addressing its predecessor's shortcomings. While not yet attaining the same level of popularity or market share as Node.js, Deno exhibits rapid development. Almost every week, the team talks in their blog about innovations they have implemented, and the recent integration of npm support in Deno Deploy has connected it to the expansive Node.js ecosystem.?
Deno's appeal also lies in its out-of-the-box tools and task automation, providing developers with a competitive edge. It has a lot of potential to win over more fans in the future, but for now, the widespread support for Deno in established projects and tools, such as Playwright, has not yet been fully realized. Deno is actively developing its ecosystem, hosting, and other services, the use of which is already very convenient, optimized and has good performance. That being said, when it comes to the non-native elements, there are areas where performance or compatibility issues may still arise.
Bun
The production-ready version of Bun was released not that long ago. Its main advantage was speed and full compatibility with Node.js. Marketing materials both on the website and YouTube showcased performance speed that surpassed both Node.js and Deno, with Node.js code easily running using Bun without additional configurations. However, in practice, things turned out differently. Full compatibility with the Node.js API was not entirely achieved. This meant that complete compatibility with many npm packages using Node.js APIs was lacking. As a result, migration of existing medium to large-sized projects was not always feasible. The same applied to speed – while Bun demonstrated incredible performance in certain cases, in others, it was on par with Node.js or even worse (especially when utilizing Node.js APIs). It should be noted separately that the environment itself is written in the Zig language, which, at the time of this article’s release, is in version 0.11.0.? The Bun team is actively working on the aforementioned issues, and its ecosystem is growing, but only time will tell how long it will stay afloat and whether it can carve out its niche in the market.
Node js.
Node.js currently holds the position of the most prominent tool for JavaScript server-side development. Despite offering fewer pre-built tools than Bun and Deno, Node.js boasts an extensive array of frameworks and configurations, streamlining development efforts and eliminating the need for boilerplate code writing. Its strength lies in the expansive NPM ecosystem and a robust community, significantly larger than that of Deno and Bun. Compatibility issues are virtually non-existent for Node.js, given that the majority of backend tools are designed with a Node.js-centric focus, and the same applies to the corresponding Cloud services that facilitate such work.
领英推荐
Summary
As we transition into 2024, Node.js shows no signs of relinquishing its leadership. The substantial community, comprehensive ecosystem, and corporate interest, combined with the competitive factor introduced by Bun's active development, contribute to Node.js' ongoing prominence.?
Therefore, contributors not only defend themselves against criticism from Bun fans but also actively discuss how to introduce in Node.js the features that have been demonstrated in Bun or Deno. In light of this, Avenga recommends its clients opt for the proven reliability of Node.js. Our internal experiments and research indicate that while Bun and Deno may find application in specific niche tasks, the prevailing issues of compatibility and the constrained existing ecosystems underscore Node.js as the preferred choice.
Check out our blog posts:
Avenga,
your competitive advantage ??