A full version history of the babel-runtime package with size, number of distributed files and dependency evolution.
The babel-runtime package on npm has undergone significant evolution since its initial release in February 2015. Early versions, starting at 4.0.1, were consistently authored by Sebastian McKenzie and described as a "babel selfContained runtime." These versions utilized a basic structure and rapidly progressed through minor and patch updates, focusing on stability and bug fixes within the 4.x series.
A significant shift occurred with the introduction of version 5.0.0 in April 2015, which introduced a dependency on core-js, marking a move towards standardized JavaScript features. The 5.x series saw frequent releases, indicating active development and refinement, with incremental updates introducing new features and polyfills.
The 6.x series, beginning in October 2015, brought more substantial changes, including the introduction of babel-plugin-transform-runtime, babel-template, and regenerator. These dependencies reflect Babel's maturing ecosystem and its focus on supporting modern JavaScript syntax. Subsequent versions in the 6.x series saw updates to core-js and regenerator-runtime, showcasing ongoing efforts to maintain compatibility and leverage the latest advancements in JavaScript runtime environments. This trajectory illustrates the package's evolution from a simple runtime environment to a component tightly integrated with the broader Babel ecosystem.