Why Bun Has Become My Go-To
JavaScript Runtime
JavaScript is an excellent scripting language. Primarily, I use it to implement web frontend projects for dynamic applications. Until now, I used the usual setup consisting of Node, npm (sometimes pnpm or Yarn), some bundler, and occasionally even a TS transpiler. Not only due to my interest in Zig, but I’ve also had Bun on my radar since the beginning of last year. And since the end of last year, I have been using it exclusively for personal projects.
A damn fast JS runtime (TS is natively supported here), an equally first-class package manager, and a bundler all in one. Bun’s goal is to be 100% compatible with Node. But it also gets independent features that make it a superior choice. Most recently, for example, through the integration of a Postgres client. MySQL will follow.
Go, Zig, Bun is a perfect selection of tools for my different project requirements. And due to the ease and versatility of Bun, I now see classic scripting also solved in JS.
My site is hosted on Cloudflare and built directly with Astro there. I was surprised that Cloudflare Pages not only directly supports Astro but even recognizes Bun and uses it as a package manager and build tool. This setup is automated through GitHub Actions, so I can also store future articles in my GitHub repo. During the build on Cloudflare, the publication date is then taken into account accordingly.
For more on how Bun fits into my wider toolchain, see From Makefiles to Bun: Modern Task Automation Tools.