Difference Between create-react-app and create-vite Projects

When developing a React project, two popular tools are create-react-app (CRA) and create-vite. Both provide a streamlined setup, but they differ in terms of performance, configuration, and development experience. Below is a detailed comparison:

1. Performance

• CRA: Uses Webpack as the bundler, which can be slow for large projects due to its heavier dependency tree and slower Hot Module Replacement (HMR).

• Vite: Uses ESBuild for rapid bundling and an optimized development server, significantly reducing startup and rebuild times.

2. Build Speed

• CRA: Takes longer to compile and bundle the project, especially as the project grows.

• Vite: Offers faster builds by leveraging ES modules and compiling only necessary files on demand.

3. Development Experience

• CRA: Provides a traditional development setup with automatic configuration but may feel sluggish in larger projects.

• Vite: Offers instant feedback with near-instant HMR, making development smoother.

4. Configuration & Extensibility

• CRA: Comes with a predefined Webpack setup, requiring eject to customize configurations, which makes future updates harder.

• Vite: Allows easy customization using plugins and a vite.config.js file without ejecting.

5. Production Build Optimization

• CRA: Produces an optimized build, but the process can be slower.

• Vite: Generates an optimized build faster by utilizing Rollup as the bundler.

6. Ecosystem & Support

• CRA: Maintained by Facebook but is now less actively developed.

• Vite: Growing in popularity due to better performance and modern tooling, with strong community support.

7. Default Features

• CRA: Includes Jest for testing, React Fast Refresh, and a service worker for Progressive Web App (PWA) support.

• Vite: Offers a minimal setup but allows adding features like Jest or Vitest for testing manually.

8. File Execution Differences

Vite

• In Vite projects, React is rendered using the react and react-dom libraries.

• The script is directly injected into index.html, making it a lightweight and efficient way to load the application.

• This approach eliminates the need for extra configuration files and speeds up the loading process.

Create-React-App (CRA)

• CRA uses Webpack and Babel to bundle the application.

• Unlike Vite, CRA does not inject scripts directly into index.html. Instead, it relies on multiple dependencies and configurations.

• It includes additional scripts such as test scripts (Jest), service workers, and polyfills, making it a more complex setup compared to Vite.

9. Standard Practices in Vite Projects

When using Vite for a React project, certain best practices help maintain code consistency and improve development efficiency:

• Function Naming Convention:

  • React components should have function names starting with an uppercase letter (e.g., MyComponent instead of myComponent).

  • This follows React's convention and ensures proper rendering.

• File Extensions:

  • Component files should use the .jsx extension (or .tsx for TypeScript) instead of .js.

  • This explicitly indicates that the file contains JSX syntax.

10. Which One to Choose?

• If you need a simple, traditional setup with built-in support for React projects, CRA is still a good choice.

• If you prefer faster builds, better performance, and modern tooling, Vite is the recommended option.

difference between CRA and Vite by Hitesh Choudhary