Difference between Babel and Traceur

In this article, we discuss the differences between Babel and Traceur. Before going into the differences, let's understand each term with it's features.

What is the Babel?

Babel is a relatively well-known transpiler that enables us to begin using future JavaScript in the current versions of browsers. It can translate the latest version of JavaScript code into the browser accepts. Transpiler is always used to refer to a tool that is used to transform another source code to another source code of the same level.

Babel as Javascript Compiler

Babel is a tool that transpiles code written in ECMAScript 2015+ into a version of Javascript compatible with current and older browsers and environments.

The following are some of the essential things Babel can accomplish for you:

It changes the syntax.

• A feature that is not present in our target environment will be polyfilled (using a third-party polyfill like core-js).
• Techniques that modify original code (codemods).

What is a transpiler?

It is a program that translates one level of the source code to another level of the source code. It is also referred to as a source-to-source compiler for such reasons. Thus, the two codes are similar in function, although one operates only with a specific version of a browser, while the other does not.

It is an important point to make as a compiler is not a transpiler because the latter takes source code at one level of abstraction and transforms it into another source code at the same level of abstraction while a compiler, normally, converts code at one level of abstraction to code at a lower level of abstraction. After that, the source code is compiled into byte code, which are lower in level and not equivalent to source code as in Java.

Features of BabelJS

Some features of BabelJS are as follows:

• Babel Plugins: Babel has many plugins that can be used separately to transpile the code depending on the targeted run time environment. These plugins include specific settings relating to the transpiration process for customization.
• Babel-Presets: Babel presets are predefined plugins that act as the settings of the Babel transpiler and provide quality configurations. These commands assist Babel to transpile code under certain modes in desired environments. For example, running the "es2015" preset converts the code to ES5.
• The Babel-Cli: The Babel-cli package comes with some commands that make it easy to compile code from the terminal. It also contains aspects like plugins, and presets, which may be used in other aspects together with the command to make it easier to transpile the code all at once.
• The Babel-Polyfills: Some of the aspects like methods and objects are not able to be transpiled. In these situations, we can use babel-polyfill to help us use features in each browser easily.

What is the Traceur?

Traceur Compiler is the JavaScript Compiler that is used while coding in an Angular JS environment. It has full support of ECMAScript(ES6) and ES with React native. The Traceur compiler allows to use the JavaScript features. It is used for converting the ES6 code into JavaScript(ES5).

Support for ES6 Features:

As of the current version, Traceur supports many ES6 features to help code writers write a current JavaScript. It includes:

• Arrow Functions: A compact way of defining developmental functions.
• Classes: A new syntax for creating objects and hierarchy.
• Modules: It allows support statements for import and export to manage dependencies.
• Transpilation: Traceur compiles ES6 code to ES5, which allows running this code on browsers that do not support the newest specifications. It enables the developers to write using modern syntax and still have wide compatibility.
• Polyfills: For enhanced compatibility, Traceur also brings polyfills for new objects and methods added in ES6, like promises, maps, sets, etc.
• Experimental Features: Traceur often adds the features that are planned for future releases of JavaScript to let developers test the functionalities.
• Custom Output Formats: Developers can specify the format of the generated JavaScript code so it can accommodate CommonJS modules and AMDs.

Key differences between Babel and Traceur:

There are several key differences between Babel and Traceur. Some main differences are as follows:

Conclusion:

In conclusion, Babel and Traceur are both JavaScript transpilers, where Babel has the edge over the other in terms of flexibility and availability of plugins, presets, and polyfills. Babel mainly deals with the transformation of contemporary ECMAScript (ES2015+) into code that older browsers and settings can interpret. Therefore, it is very flexible and versatile. On the other hand, Traceur was a tool used in previous years for the transpiling of ES6 features down to ES5 for environments such as AngularJS. It also supported experimental features from future versions of JavaScript. Babel has eventually displaced Traceur due to more compatibility, community support, and active development, which makes Babel the best choice for JavaScript transpiling at the moment.