Acorn is a tiny, fast, and spec-compliant ECMAScript parser written in JavaScript. It can parse JavaScript code into an abstract syntax tree (AST), a structured representation of the code's syntax, enabling analysis and manipulation. Widely used in tools like linters, formatters, and code transformers, Acorn supports modern JavaScript features and is highly extensible with plugins. Its lightweight nature makes it ideal for performance-critical applications that require JavaScript parsing.
Acorn, an npm package, exhibits irregular release patterns. Initial releases were sparse from 2012-2014. Activity peaked in 2015 and 2017. Post-2017, releases became less frequent, often with months without updates. 2024 saw a minor resurgence. As of September 2025, no releases have occurred in the past month.
Acorn's npm package downloads show a consistent upward trend from March 2024 to July 2025, peaking at nearly 589 million. After July 2025 the numbers decline a little, with August reaching 489 million. September 2025 is not complete yet but has a total of 176 million downloads.
