Can I build a production JavaScript web application without a bundler?

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I've recently gone down the rabbit hole of learning about modular programming with JavaScript, including some history of JS module systems, bundlers and ES2015 Modules. I now understand some of the pains that bundlers help/ed alleviate, such as:

  • network latency (more effective caching of a single bundle, HTTP/1.0 connections),
  • performance constraints on the size of application modules (minification, tree-shaking),
  • ES2015 not supporting some features (bare imports),
  • and backwards compatibility with older module systems (transpilation of ES2015 Modules syntax).

However I'd like to know if it is possible to create a production JS web application in 2020 that doesn't use a bundler like webpack or Parcel and uses ES2015 Modules? A caveat being that a source-to-source compiler like Babel could still be used provided it preserves ES2015 Modules syntax. I'm not saying I would like to do this but for the sake of argument, what would be the downsides?

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1 Answers

Client-side code does not have to be bundled when run in a modern browser, but if you're going to design your code into tons of small modules (for the sake of development efficiency and reuse), then it will be very inefficient to load if you don't use a bundler that can reduce the number of separate files that need to be loaded.

A bundler will be desirable if you design your client JS files for best modular development and thus don't design your client JS files for efficient delivery as the bundler can bundle things together for efficient delivery in a build process.

"Part of the JS SDK" is a matter of terminology and opinion, not facts so I won't really comment on that assertion.

It is certainly possible to design client-side JS files from the beginning for efficient client-side delivery and not use a bundler (like we used to do), but you will not be able to also design the layout of the files for modular development. A bundler allows you achieve both goals which is probably why they are so popular.

However I'd like to know if it is possible to create a production JS web application in 2020 that doesn't use a bundler like webpack or Parcel and uses ES2015 Modules?

Yes, it's possible without a bundler if you run in a browser that supports import and export.

I'm not saying I would like to do this but for the sake of argument, what would be the downsides?

As explained above, you would either give up efficient client-side loading or you would give up ideal modular design as the two have conflicting design parameters.

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