Bun is designed to start fast and run fast.
Under the hood, Bun uses the JavaScriptCore engine, which Apple develops for Safari. In most cases, the startup and running performance is faster than V8, the engine used by Node.js and Chromium-based browsers. Its transpiler and runtime are written in Zig, a modern, high-performance language. On Linux, this translates into startup times 4x faster than Node.js.
If you want to get rid of all those different commands on each package manager I highly recommend installing SWPM and saying goodbye to package manager confusion. It will do all the command translations for you.
This is a command guide for the npm (Node Package Manager), and yarn (Yet Another Resource Negotiator), to bun (JavaScript runtime).
Note: <package> follow this structure <package[@latest|@#.#.#]>
Package Commands
commands
npm
yarn
bun
clean cache
npm cache clean
yarn cache clean
bun pm cache rm
install from package.json
npm install
yarn [install]
bun install
don’t read or generate a lockfile
npm install –no-package-lock
yarn install –no-lockfile
bun install –no-save
lockfile is not updated
npm ci
yarn install –frozen-lockfile
bun install –frozen-lockfile
add package
npm install <package> [–location=global]
yarn [global] add <package>
bun add <package> [–global]
add package as dependencies
npm install <package>
yarn add <package>
bun add <package>
add package as devDependencies
npm install <package> –save-dev
yarn add <package> –dev
bun add <package> –dev
add package as optionalDependencies
npm install <package> –save-optional
yarn add <package> –optional
bun add <package> –optional
add exact version
npm install <package> –save-exact
yarn add <package> –exact
bun add <package> –exact
remove package
npm uninstall <package> [–location=global]
yarn [global] remove <package>
bun remove [<package>] [–global]
remove package as dependencies
npm uninstall <package>
yarn remove <package>
bun remove <package>
remove package as devDependencies
npm uninstall <package> –save-dev
yarn remove <package> –dev
bun remove <package> –dev
remove package as optionalDependencies
npm uninstall <package> –save-optional
yarn remove <package> –optional
bun remove <package> –optional
list all package at the top level
npm list –depth 0 [–location=global]
yarn [global] list –depth 0
bun pm ls
Shared Commands
commands
npm
yarn
bun
init or create
npm init
yarn init
bun init
run scripts
npm run <script>
yarn run <script>
bun run <script>
run test
npm test
yarn test
bun test
crate bundle package
npm build
yarn build
bun build
link local package
npm link [<folder>]
yarn link [<folder>]
bun link [<folder>]
Run Remotely
commands
npm
yarn
bun
run package
npx <package>
yarn dlx <package>
bunx <package>
CLI documentation
Conclusion
Transitioning from npm and yarn to Bun offers developers faster startup times and streamlined commands, thanks to its use of the JavaScriptCore engine and Zig language. Bun simplifies package management while enhancing performance, promising a more efficient JavaScript development experience. Explore Bun’s capabilities at bun.sh for optimized workflows and accelerated development.
