What are the differences between UglifyJS and other minifiers?

What are the differences between UglifyJS and other minifiers?

UglifyJS is a popular JavaScript minifier known for its speed and efficiency. It focuses on reducing file size by removing whitespace, comments, and shortening variable names. Other minifiers, like Terser or Google Closure Compiler, may offer additional features like advanced optimizations or support for ES6+ syntax. Are you looking for specific features or performance comparisons?

Yes, how does UglifyJS perform compared to Terser?

UglifyJS is generally faster for basic minification tasks, but Terser supports modern JavaScript features and provides better compression for ES6+ code. If you're working with newer syntax, Terser might be the better choice despite being slightly slower.

What about Google Closure Compiler?

Google Closure Compiler is more than just a minifier; it performs advanced optimizations and can analyze your code for potential issues. It can produce smaller output sizes but requires more configuration and is typically slower than both UglifyJS and Terser. It's great for production builds where performance is critical.

Which one should I use for a large project?

For a large project, if you're using modern JavaScript, Terser is often recommended due to its support for ES6+ features. However, if you need advanced optimizations and are willing to invest time in configuration, Google Closure Compiler could provide significant benefits.