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SystemJS VS Browserify

Compare SystemJS VS Browserify and see what are their differences

SystemJS logo SystemJS

Configurable module loader enabling dynamic ES module workflows in browsers and NodeJS.

Browserify logo Browserify

Browserify lets you require('modules') in the browser by bundling up all of your dependencies.
  • SystemJS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-11-06
  • Browserify Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-09-29

SystemJS features and specs

  • Universal Module Loader
    SystemJS supports loading modules in various formats, such as AMD, CommonJS, and ES modules, providing versatility in deploying applications with different module specifications.
  • Dynamic Imports
    SystemJS enables dynamic loading of modules, which allows for lazy loading of parts of applications. This can lead to performance improvements by asynchronously loading only the necessary parts of your application.
  • Compatibility
    SystemJS provides compatibility across different JavaScript environments, making it a suitable choice for projects that require running code on both browsers and Node.js.
  • Extensibility
    With a plugin system that lets developers extend its capabilities, SystemJS can be customized to handle specific loading scenarios or integrate more seamlessly with different build processes or frameworks.

Possible disadvantages of SystemJS

  • Complexity
    The flexibility and extensive feature set of SystemJS can introduce complexity in configurations and require a learning curve for new developers, particularly with its extensive plugin ecosystem.
  • Performance Overhead
    Because SystemJS is a global loader, it introduces additional runtime overhead compared to using native ES modules or simpler bundling solutions, which might impact performance.
  • Reduced Relevance with ES Modules
    With the native support for ES modules in modern browsers, the need for SystemJS has decreased, as developers can often achieve the desired module functionality with built-in browser capabilities.
  • Complex Debugging
    SystemJS's dynamic loading and transformations can make debugging more challenging, as developers may struggle with source mapping or understanding how modules are resolved.

Browserify features and specs

  • Node.js module system support
    Browserify allows developers to use the Node.js-style require() function for module loading in the browser, enabling the use of NPM packages designed for Node.js.
  • Code organization
    By enabling modular code, Browserify helps developers organize their code better, making it more maintainable and scalable.
  • Ecosystem integration
    Browserify seamlessly integrates with the Node.js ecosystem and encourages code sharing between the server and client.
  • Customizability
    With Browserify's plugin system, developers can easily customize and extend its functionality to fit their needs.
  • Performance optimization
    Advanced features like code splitting and static analysis can improve performance by reducing the amount of code sent to the browser.

Possible disadvantages of Browserify

  • Build process complexity
    Integrating Browserify into your workflow can add complexity to your build process, especially for developers who are not familiar with build tools.
  • Plugins and transformations
    While Browserify is customizable, managing a large number of plugins and transformations can become cumbersome and difficult to understand.
  • Performance overhead
    The bundling process can introduce performance overhead during development due to the time taken to bundle the files.
  • Modern alternatives
    Modern alternatives like Webpack and Rollup offer more features and optimizations, making Browserify less attractive for some use cases.
  • Limited built-in features
    Compared to alternatives like Webpack, Browserify has fewer built-in features, which can necessitate additional tools or plugins for functionalities like hot module replacement.

SystemJS videos

Javascript Tutorial - SystemJS intro

More videos:

  • Review - Learn Angular 2 in 21 Days: Day 2 Layout, SystemJS and Components

Browserify videos

MacBook Pro Retina vs MacBook Air - Django collect static & browserify

More videos:

  • Review - Atlanta JavaScript Presents Mobile Development with Cordova and Browserify with Roman Shtylman HD

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to SystemJS and Browserify)
Web Application Bundler
35 35%
65% 65
JS Build Tools
32 32%
68% 68
Front End Package Manager
Module Bundler
28 28%
72% 72

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare SystemJS and Browserify

SystemJS Reviews

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Browserify Reviews

First impressions with Parcel JS
Heard of Webpack, Rollup or Browserify? They are popular bundlers. If you’ve used one of them, you’ve used a bundler. A bundler does what it says on the tin, bundles your code 📦
Source: codeburst.io

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Browserify should be more popular than SystemJS. It has been mentiond 22 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

SystemJS mentions (4)

  • Integrate Web Component/MFE with plain static HTML
    Using the SystemJS library, we can seamlessly integrate a web component or MFE, or even import any module at runtime. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Rails upgrade to angular 2
    I would like to upgrade my existing Rails and Angular 1.x application. I'm following the ng-upgrade documentation and seeing that there are many dependencies including systemjs, typescript, tsd and a few other javascript libraries. Ideally there would be a angular-2 gem that would have all the dependencies but I'm not able to find that. Next I looked for gem's for each dependency but there isn't one for tsd. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Modern SPAs without bundlers, CDNs, or Node.js
    There's also https://github.com/systemjs/systemjs if you want more of a ponyfill approach. FWIW bundlers also don't use the browser's functionality to load modules... - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • JS Modules
    A module loader interprets and loads a module written in a certain module format at runtime. Popular examples are RequireJS and SystemJS. - Source: dev.to / almost 4 years ago

Browserify mentions (22)

  • Node.js: A brief history of cjs, bundlers, and esm
    Npm packages dramatically sped up the productivity of developers by being able to leverage other developers' work. However, it had a major disadvantage: cjs was not compatible with web browsers. To solve this problem, the concept of bundlers was born. Browserify was the first bundler which essentially worked by traversing an entry point and "bundling" all the require()-ed code into a single .js file compatible... - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • How to Create a Real-time Public Transportation Schedule App
    Browserify to use node packages in the browser. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • 5 Different Tools to Bundle Node.js Apps
    Browserify is a widely used JavaScript bundler with over 2 million NPM weekly downloads. In addition to Node.js support, allowing developers to use require() statements in the browser is one of its highlighted features. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
  • JavaScript Module Bundlers and all that Jazz ✨
    This began to change when NPM came in and running npm install became a quick and easy way to install dependencies. Browserify became the first JavaScript bundler. As its documentation says -. - Source: dev.to / about 2 years ago
  • Hack to Run React Application inside Service Worker
    One problem was to run jsDOM as UMD module. But luckly I was able to use browserify to compile jsDOM into UMD. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing SystemJS and Browserify, you can also consider the following products

RequireJS - RequireJS is a JavaScript file and module loader.

Webpack - Webpack is a module bundler. Its main purpose is to bundle JavaScript files for usage in a browser, yet it is also capable of transforming, bundling, or packaging just about any resource or asset.

Qoopido.demand - Browser only, promise like and extremely lightweight module loader using XHR/XDR requests and localStorage caching to dynamically load JavaScript modules, JSON, HTML, CSS, text and Bundles (single script containing multiple concatenated modules) wit…

Parcel - Blazing fast, zero configuration web application bundler

stealjs - Futuristic JavaScript dependency loader and builder. Speeds up application load times. Works with ES6, CommonJS, AMD, CSS, LESS and more. Simplifies modular workflows.

rollup.js - Rollup is a module bundler for JavaScript which compiles small pieces of code into a larger piece such as application.