> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/vitejs/vite/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Project Philosophy

> Understanding Vite's core design principles and vision

Vite's architecture and development approach are guided by several key principles that shape how it serves the modern web development ecosystem.

## Lean Extendable Core

Vite doesn't intend to cover every use case for every user. Vite aims to support the most common patterns to build Web apps out-of-the-box, but [Vite core](https://github.com/vitejs/vite) must remain lean with a small API surface to keep the project maintainable long-term. This goal is possible thanks to [Vite's rollup-based plugin system](/api-plugin).

<Note>
  Features that can be implemented as external plugins will generally not be added to Vite core. [vite-plugin-pwa](https://vite-pwa-org.netlify.app/) is a great example of what can be achieved out of Vite core, and there are a lot of [well maintained plugins](https://github.com/vitejs/awesome-vite#plugins) to cover your needs.
</Note>

Vite works closely with the Rollup project to ensure that plugins can be used in both plain-rollup and Vite projects as much as possible, trying to push needed extensions to the Plugin API upstream when possible.

## Pushing the Modern Web

Vite provides opinionated features that push writing modern code. For example:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="ESM-only source code">
    The source code can only be written in ESM, where non-ESM dependencies need to be [pre-bundled as ESM](/guides/dep-pre-bundling) in order to work.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Modern worker syntax">
    Web workers are encouraged to be written with the [`new Worker` syntax](/features#web-workers) to follow modern standards.
  </Card>

  <Card title="No Node.js in browser">
    Node.js modules cannot be used in the browser.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

When adding new features, these patterns are followed to create a future-proof API, which may not always be compatible with other build tools.

## A Pragmatic Approach to Performance

Vite has been focused on performance since its [origins](/why). Its dev server architecture allows HMR that stays fast as projects scale. Vite is based on native tools that includes [Oxc toolchain](https://oxc.rs/) and [Rolldown](https://rolldown.rs/) to implement intensive tasks but keeps the rest of the code in JS to balance speed with flexibility. When needed, framework plugins will tap into [Babel](https://babeljs.io/) to compile user code. Thanks to Rolldown's Rollup plugin compatibility, Vite has access to a wide ecosystem of plugins.

<Tip>
  Vite prioritizes performance without sacrificing the developer experience or plugin ecosystem compatibility.
</Tip>

## Building Frameworks on Top of Vite

Although Vite can be used by users directly, it shines as a tool to create frameworks. Vite core is framework agnostic, but there are polished plugins for each UI framework. Its [JS API](/api-javascript) allows App Framework authors to use Vite features to create tailored experiences for their users.

Vite includes support for [SSR primitives](/guides/server-side-rendering), usually present in higher-level tools but fundamental to building modern web frameworks. And Vite plugins complete the picture by offering a way to share between frameworks. Vite is also a great fit when paired with [Backend frameworks](/guides/backend-integration) like [Ruby](https://vite-ruby.netlify.app/) and [Laravel](https://laravel.com/docs/vite).

## An Active Ecosystem

Vite evolution is a cooperation between framework and plugin maintainers, users, and the Vite team. We encourage active participation in Vite's Core development once a project adopts Vite. We work closely with the main projects in the ecosystem to minimize regressions on each release, aided by tools like [vite-ecosystem-ci](https://github.com/vitejs/vite-ecosystem-ci).

<Note>
  vite-ecosystem-ci allows us to run the CI of major projects using Vite on selected PRs and gives us a clear status of how the Ecosystem would react to a release. We strive to fix regressions before they hit users and allow projects to update to the next versions as soon as they are released.
</Note>

If you are working with Vite, we invite you to join [Vite's Discord](https://chat.vite.dev) and get involved in the project too.