What does a bundler do that a CDN cannot?
A bundler minifies code, tree-shakes unused parts, splits code into chunks, handles environment variables, and produces optimized production builds. A CDN gives you the library as a single unoptimized script.
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More FAQs in Why the CDN Approach Is Only for Learning, Not Production
CDN scripts are large development builds with no minification, tree-shaking, or module system. Production needs small optimized builds, dependency management, and code splitting, all of which require a bundler.
Yes. CDN scripts used in tutorials are development builds with warnings and debugging code. They are larger and slower than minified production builds created by a bundler.
They use a bundler like Vite, Parcel, or Webpack, install React as an npm dependency, and ship optimized build artifacts to hosting platforms like Vercel, Netlify, or a custom server.
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