How to Install Bun on Mac: Step-by-Step Guide

Mradul Mishra

Table of Contents

Bun is an all-in-one toolkit for JavaScript and TypeScript applications. It includes several components and features designed to streamline development and improve runtime performance. Here's a breakdown of what Bun offers:

1. **Bun Runtime**: At its core, Bun includes a fast JavaScript runtime designed as a drop-in replacement for Node.js. It is written in Zig and powered by JavaScriptCore under the hood. This core runtime is optimized to reduce startup times and memory usage, making it suitable for resource-constrained environments like serverless functions.

2. **Command-Line Tool (bun):** Bun provides a command-line tool called `bun`, which serves multiple purposes:
- **Script Runner:** You can use `bun` to run JavaScript and TypeScript scripts, and it supports TypeScript and JSX out of the box.
- **Test Runner:** Bun includes a test runner for running tests in your projects.
- **Package Manager:** It offers a Node.js-compatible package manager, allowing you to install packages similar to how you would with npm or yarn.

3. **Improved Performance:** One of Bun's main goals is to provide faster performance compared to existing tools. It claims to start processes four times faster than Node.js.

4. **TypeScript and JSX Support:** Bun allows you to directly execute TypeScript (.ts) and JSX (.tsx) files. It also has a transpiler that converts TypeScript and JSX to vanilla JavaScript before execution.

5. **ESM and CommonJS Compatibility:** Bun supports both ES modules (ESM) and CommonJS, which allows you to work with packages that use different module systems.

6. **Web-Standard APIs:** Bun implements standard web APIs like fetch, WebSocket, and ReadableStream. These APIs are designed to be compatible with modern web standards.

7. **Node.js Compatibility:** While Bun aims for Node.js compatibility, it's an ongoing effort. It supports Node-style module resolution and aims to be compatible with built-in Node.js globals and modules.

8. **Cohesive Toolkit:** Beyond being just a runtime, Bun aims to be a comprehensive toolkit for building JavaScript and TypeScript apps. It includes features like a transpiler, bundler, script runner, test runner, and more.

How to install Bun in Mac

To install Bun on your Mac, you can follow these general steps:

Install Zig: Bun is primarily written in Zig, so you'll need to have Zig installed on your Mac. You can download the Zig compiler from the official website: https://ziglang.org/download/

Follow the installation instructions for your specific platform (macOS, in this case). You may also need to add Zig to your system's PATH for easy access.
Install Bun using Zig: Once you have Zig installed, you can use it to fetch and build Bun from its source repository. Open your terminal and run the following commands:
```
git clone https://github.com/bunred/bun.git
cd bun
zig build -Drelease-fast
```
Run Bun: After successfully building Bun, you should be able to run it using the bun command. For example, you can run a JavaScript or TypeScript script using Bun:
```
bun run your_script.js
```
Replace your_script.js with the name of your JavaScript or TypeScript file.
Please note that since Bun is under development, there might have been changes or improvements in the installation process or features. Be sure to check the Bun repository on GitHub for the most up-to-date installation instructions and any additional requirements:

https://github.com/bunred/bun

Always ensure that you have the necessary dependencies installed and follow any specific instructions provided in the official documentation or README files of the Bun project for the most accurate installation guidance.