Introduction to 6to5: Transpile ES6 to Vanilla ES5

Set to ratify in June 2015, ECMAScript 6 is the upcoming version of the ECMAScript standard, and will include significant updates to the language since its last update in 2009.

6to5 is a JavaScript transpiler that turns ES6 code into readable vanilla ES5. It’s a great way for developers who want to write code in ES6 syntax now, and don’t have to worry about environment compatibility issues. As of now, 6to5 has the largest percentage of ES6 features implemented.

6to5 enables developers to take new language features in JavaScript and compile them to run in browsers, NodeJS, and other ECMAScript implementations today. These features include new syntax and new APIs, and is a huge edition to the language.

In the talk below, James Kyle gives an overview of 6to5, live code samples, a number of different plugins, customizing 6to5, and the future.

What’s a Transpiler?

A transpiler is a type of compiler that takes the source code of a programming language as its input and outputs the source code into another programming language. Think UglifyJS or Closure Compiler. 6to5 takes ES6 JavaScript and outputs it as ES5, which runs in most places today.

6to5 Details

6to5 includes plugins for a wide variety of build systems, including Grunt, Webpack, Broccoli, and Browserify. Also, with the CLI or require hook, you can easily get your Node.js app up and running with 6to5.

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