A year after the launch of Vite 4, which laid a robust foundation for the ecosystem, the npm downloads per week skyrocketed from 2.5 million to an impressive 7.5 million. This growth showcases the increasing reliance on Vite as projects continue to thrive on a collaborative infrastructure.
Frameworks like Astro, Nuxt, SvelteKit, Solid Start, and Qwik City, among others, have not only continued to innovate but have also been joined by newcomers such as RedwoodJS and Remix, which have now embraced Vite. This shift further strengthens Vite's presence in the React ecosystem.
Vitest, a crucial component of Vite, has experienced rapid growth, surpassing even Vite itself. The team behind Vitest is gearing up to release Vitest 1.0 soon. Additionally, the integration of Vite with other tools like Storybook, Nx, and Playwright has seen continuous improvement, enhancing the development experience.
The recent ViteConf, hosted by StackBlitz, brought together various projects within the ecosystem, fostering collaboration and idea-sharing. New additions like Volar and Nitro have complemented the meta-framework toolbelt, while the Rollup team introduced Rollup 4, aligning with Vite's commitment to continuous improvement.
Vite's long-term plan, as revealed by Evan You at ViteConf, involves the development of Rolldown, a Rust-port of Rollup with compatible APIs. Once implemented, this will significantly enhance both build and development performance, addressing existing inconsistencies.
Fast forward to today, and Vite 5.0 has been unveiled with several noteworthy updates. Notably, Vite now leverages Rollup 4, leading to a substantial boost in build performance. The emphasis in this release is on API cleanup, removing deprecated features, and streamlining various functionalities to resolve longstanding issues. Vite 5.0 also aligns with Node.js 18+, deprecating the CJS Node API.
For those eager to try out Vite 5.0, there are quick start options available. Users can utilize "pnpm create vite" to scaffold a project or explore various templates online using "vite.new." Additionally, the update includes performance enhancements, such as a new guide to identify and address common issues, and a new feature, server.warmup, to improve startup time.
With Vite 5.0, the focus is on ensuring a smooth transition for existing projects. The Migration Guide provides detailed insights, and collaboration with ecosystem partners has played a pivotal role in making the upgrade process straightforward.
This release wouldn't be possible without the dedicated community of contributors, downstream maintainers, and plugin authors. Special thanks to individuals and companies sponsoring Vite's development, including StackBlitz, Nuxt Labs, Astro, and Remix, highlighting the collective effort behind Vite's success.