build tools are
patience as a product.

webpack trauma, vite dopamine, HMR myths — why we keep inventing tools that finish before your coffee cools.

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vite.config.tscommit cafe801

3- // webpack: 47 plugins, 1 prayer

4- module.exports = { ...pain }

3+ export default defineConfig({

4+ plugins: [react()],

5+ })

why: slow cold starts made people rewrite bundlers in rust/go/zig. the product was never "more config" — it was fewer seconds of staring.

build tools commits

2 dissected

#b7e4c12build-tools

bundlers, ES modules, webpack — I ran npm run dev without knowing this

import './App.css' shouldn't work. it does because a bundler is lying for you. ES modules, webpack loaders vs plugins, how vite actually starts in 300ms — the version I wish I'd read before touching webpack.config.js.

+ ESM graph, loaders, vite on-demand- mystery webpack.config, 'just wait for compile'

#e3a91d0build-tools

npm, pnpm, Turbopack — I mixed these up for way too long

npm install is slow? use pnpm. dev server still slow? that's not pnpm's job. turbopack, vite, webpack — different layer entirely. wrote this after realising I'd been copy-pasting commands without knowing what they fix.

+ pnpm store, turbopack dev, lockfiles- phantom deps, webpack cold start

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build tools arepatience as a product.

build tools commits

bundlers, ES modules, webpack — I ran npm run dev without knowing this

npm, pnpm, Turbopack — I mixed these up for way too long

build tools are
patience as a product.