Parcel.js — Easy JavaScript Bundling

How to get started with zero configuration JavaScript bundling

It’s a great time to be a JavaScript developer. There are thousands of tools at our disposal and the quality of the tooling has never been better.

We have create-react-app, Angular CLI, and Vue CLI which all aim to solve the biggest hurdle someone new to JavaScript web app development needs to clear — configuring their development environment to actually start coding.

A major part of that development environment these days involves how we serve our app to the browser while we’re coding (if you’re not using something that provides hot module reloading, you’re doing it wrong) and correctly configuring this functionality to work with all the moving parts can be a pain, but it doesn’t have to be.

We’re going to set up a basic React app using Parcel and watch its magic happen for ourselves.

I want to introduce you to Parcel.js, but first let’s talk about what a bundler is, and why it matters to you as a JavaScript developer.