A full version history of the @angular/compiler package with size, number of distributed files and dependency evolution.
Spanning nearly a decade, the @angular/compiler package has undergone significant evolution, reflected in its numerous versions. Beginning in September 2016 with versions 2.0.0, the library focused on core compilation functionalities, tightly coupled with corresponding @angular/core versions. This initial phase emphasized stability and bug fixes, progressing through minor revisions like 2.0.1 and 2.0.2.
The 2.x series saw incremental feature additions and dependency updates, culminating in the more substantial 2.3.0 and 2.4.0 releases around late 2016. The project then made a major leap forward with version 4.0.0 in March 2017. Moving into version 5, the addition of tslib as a dependency and various improvements in each version. Angular 6 came with tslib version ^1.9.0 and more improvements.
Angular 7, 8, 9 and 10 brought further refinements, focusing on performance optimizations and enhanced developer experience. The introduction of better support for TypeScript and evolving compilation strategies marked this period. The library reached version 17, 18, 19 and 20 with each version bringing support for latest technologies and major bug removals.
Currently, the package is versioned to Angular 20 with all dependencies from Angular Core being on par. In the end, the complete journey tells the journey of a library that changed by time itself, keeping up with new technologies, but also keeping the older versions for legacy and support.