So, you’re wondering if Svelte is production ready? Well, you’re in luck, because today we are going to dive into Svelte! We will be looking at what companies are currently using the framework, how well it scales, and the pros and cons of the language.
So without further ado, let’s get into it.
What Is Svelte?
Svelte is a frontend JavaScript framework just like React, Vue, and Angular. However, the framework aims to take a different approach than the big three. Instead, Svelte builds and compiles user interfaces instead of doing the bulk of the work in the browser.
The other major difference between Svelte and Vue and React is that it writes code to update the real DOM as state changes, instead of working with a virtual DOM.
Svelte is a fairly new frontend framework, however, it is quickly gaining popularity as a viable option for production code.
Is Svelte Production Ready?
Svelte has been through 3 major releases Svelte, Svelte v2, and Svelte 3. In 2019 Svelte announced that Svelte 3 was out of beta testing and was now stable. Meaning it was usable in production and all major bugs should be fixed.
Although Svelte 3 has been stable for a few years, is it still a good idea to use Svelte in production? Well, let’s take a look at the major factors of its usability professionally.
Can Svelte Scale?
The concept behind Svelte is a pretty intriguing one for frontend web development. However, is it scalable? Since none of the other big three frameworks [React, Vue, & Angular] use this methodology, it’s a valid question. Luckily we have some answers.
Svelte Has A Point of Inflection
Theoretically, yes there is an inflection point where Svelte becomes less performant than other frontend frameworks. However, you are very unlikely to ever hit that point within a single page of your application if you’re using code-splitting. Luckily the Svelte preprocessor Sapper includes this by default.
Svelte Has Larger Components
Additionally, Svelte components are generally larger than components in React or Vue. However, although the code is designed to be readable, it also minifies well and utilizes a shared internal library so is being re-used where possible.
Svelte Could Be Compiled Down To Low-Level Code
Finally, since Svelte is compiled down into JavaScript, if performance really did become an issue, it would theoretically be possible for the developers to compile it down to low-level code that runs in the browser, like Glimmer.
If you want the full list of scalability benefits of Svelte, check out this page.
What Companies Are Using Svelte?
Ok, so we know that Svelte is theoretically scalable but are any companies actually using it?
According to LogRocket, there are a lot of companies currently utilizing Svelte in production. Some of the big names you probably know are GoDaddy, Rakuten, 1Password, and The New York Times. Even Spotify uses it for its landing page!
However, I could not find any frontend intensive applications currently utilizing Svelte. I’m sure there is something out there, but I personally couldn’t find it.
Pros of Using Svelte?
Now that we know that Svelte is scalable and is used by some big companies, let’s jump into the pros of utilizing the framework.
Svelte Is Simple
The biggest benefit of utilizing Svelte is that it is super simple to get started with. Primarily because you are writing HTML, CSS, and vanilla JavaScript but with some of the heavy lifting done for you. Although Vue and React are pretty easy to learn, you could get started with Svelte within under 5 minutes if you know HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Svelte Doesn’t Ship With Additional Code
Additionally, Svelte compiles down into a pure JavaScript application for production. This means that you don’t have the additional bundles that you would ship with the other main JavaScript frameworks. For projects that involve a lot of data manipulation and user input, Svelte will outperform React or Vue which rely upon a virtual DOM.
Cons of Using Svelte?
Less Svelte Problems Have Already Been Solved
The main disadvantage of using Svelte is that it is much younger than the major frontend frameworks and hasn’t reached their popularity yet. This means there will be fewer people that have run into the same problems as you, fewer StackOverflow answers, and ultimately more ambiguity when creating applications.
There Are Fewer Svelte Developers
It also makes it harder to find developers who already know how to code in Svelte. Although it is easy to learn, a developer already proficient will have to learn Svelte in order to start being productive with the framework.
Svelte Lacks A Full Suite of Tools
Finally, Svelte does not offer the full suite of tools you would see with Vue or Angular. Making it difficult to promote its use for enterprise-level applications or anything advanced. Although there are a plethora of third-party tools to help you build any application you want, you will likely be leaning on more than just Svelte to put it together.
Summary: Is Svelte Production Ready?
To summarize, yes Svelte is production ready. Svelte 3 has been stable for many years, is scalable and many big companies trust the language. Additionally, Svelte is simple to learn and ships as pure efficient JavaScript. However, the framework is younger than React, Vue, and Angular. Meaning there are fewer developers and fewer problems with scaling have been solved. It also lacks a full suite of tools like other frameworks. If you want my personal opinion, I think Svelte is a great framework but for smaller projects where performance is important.
New to Svelte and want to learn the framework? Check out this top-selling course.
As always, happy coding!
