Vite: instant dev server

Vite starts a dev server in milliseconds because it skips bundling in development and serves native ES modules straight to the browser. Edits apply as hot updates without losing component state.

npm create vite@latest my-app -- --template react

Production builds still bundle (Rollup under the hood), so the same tool covers both modes. Migrate from webpack when builds feel slow; keep webpack while exotic loaders have no Vite equivalent. Works the same for React and Vue.

Config without mystery

The defaults are right for most projects: resist copying a 200-line config from a blog post. The only settings nearly everyone needs are the dev server port and proxy for the backend (so fetch calls skip CORS pain), plus base path when deploying under a subfolder. Read the config you ship — every mysterious flag becomes a debugging session later.

Preview before you ship

Dev mode lies a little: unbundled modules hide size problems. Run the production build locally and serve the preview before every release — that is where oversized dependencies and broken asset paths show up, while fixing them is still cheap.