not-recommended.md

💀 Legacy or not recommended tools

Tools that are deprecated, out of date, have better alternatives or have only niche uses.

Compilers

• Bublé (GitHub)
• Closure Compiler (GitHub)

Zero-config presets

• Yeoman (GitHub)
  • Generator; Plop or hygen are modern alternatives
• slush (GitHub)
  • Scaffolding tool meant to replace Yeoman
• kyt (GitHub)
  • Web app configuration toolkit

React

• React Boilerplate (GitHub)
  • Once popular, but now out of date
  • Has a TypeScript fork
• create-react-library (GitHub)
  • Slow maintenance and development
• enclave (GitHub)
  • React app compiler; supplanted by bundlers and Babel

Bundlers

• minipack (GitHub)
• StealJS (GitHub)
• HappyPack (GitHub)
• Pundle (GitHub)
• Bili (GitHub)
  • Rollup-based library bundler
• Fastpack (GitHub)
• Jarvis (GitHub)
  • Webpack dashboard, unmaintained
• Broccoli.js (GitHub)
  • Asset pipeline
• Brunch (GitHub)

Doc generators

• dgeni (GitHub)
• JSDoc (GitHub)
• Documentation.js (GitHub)
• Docco (GitHub)
• dexy (GitHub)
• ditto (GitHub)

Test tools

• QUnit (GitHub)
  • Java-inspired, dated library
• PhantomJS (GitHub)
  • Headless browser scripting; development suspended
• Zombie.js (GitHub)

Coverage

• blanket (GitHub)

WebExtensions

• Extension Boilerplate (GitHub)
• React Chrome Extension Boilerplate (GitHub)
• Extensionizr (GitHub)

TypeScript

• awesome-typescript-loader (GitHub)
  • Replaced by fork-ts-checker-webpack-plugin
• TSLint (GitHub)
  • Deprecated in favor of typescript-eslint

Other

• Grunt (GitHub)
• Gulp (GitHub)
• Bower (GitHub)
  • Package manager, popular in the jQuery ecosystem
• JSHint (GitHub)
  • A linter developed as a more configurable JSLint but now outclassed by ESLint
• Tern (GitHub)
  • Outclassed by TypeScript, since tsc can also analyze JavaScript
• JSLint (GitHub)
  • Ancient despite still being updated
• Modernizr (GitHub)
  • Feature detection can usually be replaced by polyfilling with @babel/preset-env (discussion)
• plato (GitHub)
• jsinspect (GitHub)
• React Hot Loader (GitHub)
  • Replaced by React Fast Refresh
• Retire.js (GitHub)
• next-update (GitHub)
• dtslint (GitHub)
  • tsd should be used instead (discussion)
• js-beautify (GitHub)
  • Prettier is a modern alternative
• precise-commits (GitHub)
• DocPad (GitHub)
• JSMin (GitHub)
• CoffeeScript (GitHub)
• nvm-windows (GitHub)
  • Misleadingly named; isn't nvm for Windows