I'll 2nd the rollup recommendation for libraries, but unfortunately parcel has the same (or worse) problems as Webpack with it's proliferation of dependencies.
Rollup does have some issues with webapps since it's so heavily oriented toward JS-as-entrypoint, but tbh Webpack has the same issues; it just works around them by layering some extra complexity on top in the form of plugins (which you can actually do relatively easily in rollup too, though it's still not ideal in either situation).
Edit: Just measured those dependencies for comparison.
- rollup: 3 dependencies (all top-level, none have subdependencies. 2 are just typings which contain no executable code)
- webpack: 425 dependencies (23 top-level)
- parcel: 837 dependencies (57 top-level)
I haven't used parcel, so can't comment on its function. By the sounds of their website they're focused on speed, so if performance is your only concern they might be a good shout. If you're looking to reduce your security surface area, their approach to dependency management seems pretty irresponsible.
Yeah I actually didn’t realize parcel had so many dependencies. I choose it over webpack not for speed but because it’s highly opinionated and requires essentially zero config.
So I guess I’ll change my suggestion and say just use rollup
Yeah I made some incorrect assumptions about the nature of parcel, foolish mistake on my part.
For your other question it depends on your library. If you’re only targeting ESM or CJS sure, if you need a UMD or want separate outputs for separate targets a bundler like rollup can help prevent a lot of pointless boilerplate.
Rollup does have some issues with webapps since it's so heavily oriented toward JS-as-entrypoint, but tbh Webpack has the same issues; it just works around them by layering some extra complexity on top in the form of plugins (which you can actually do relatively easily in rollup too, though it's still not ideal in either situation).
Edit: Just measured those dependencies for comparison.
- rollup: 3 dependencies (all top-level, none have subdependencies. 2 are just typings which contain no executable code)
- webpack: 425 dependencies (23 top-level)
- parcel: 837 dependencies (57 top-level)
I haven't used parcel, so can't comment on its function. By the sounds of their website they're focused on speed, so if performance is your only concern they might be a good shout. If you're looking to reduce your security surface area, their approach to dependency management seems pretty irresponsible.