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wtf is rolldown-define-testbed?

brillout/rolldown-define-testbed — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-08-03 · repo last pushed 2025-04-25

JavaScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 2/5StaleSetup · easy

TL;DR

A test project showing that Rolldown's define option only replaces global variables, not local ones. It includes side-by-side comparisons with other bundlers like esbuild and Rollup.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Tests Rolldown define option
      Shows global vs local behavior
      Reproduces specific bundler quirk
    Bundlers compared
      Rolldown
      esbuild
      Rollup
    Use cases
      Debug define replacement
      Report bundler behavior
      Compare bundler tools
    Audience
      Bundler tool developers
      Build pipeline engineers

Code map

Detail Auto

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filefunction / class

Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Check whether your define placeholders are global or local to understand why some values aren't being replaced.

REASON 2

Compare how Rolldown, esbuild, and Rollup handle the same define substitution to pick the right bundler.

REASON 3

Use this as a reproducible example when reporting a bug or design decision to the Rolldown team.

What's in the stack?

JavaScriptRolldownesbuildRollup

How it stacks up

brillout/rolldown-define-testbed00kaku/gallery-slider-block0verflowme/weirdhta
LanguageJavaScriptJavaScriptJavaScript
Last pushed2025-04-252021-05-192022-06-16
MaintenanceStaleDormantDormant
Setup difficultyeasyeasymoderate
Complexity2/52/52/5
Audiencedevelopergeneraldeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Wtf does this do

This repository is a small test project that demonstrates a specific behavior in Rolldown, a JavaScript bundling tool. It shows that Rolldown's "define" option, which lets developers swap in fixed values during the build process, only works on global variables, not local ones. When developers build a web app, they use tools called bundlers to combine and optimize their code. These bundlers often have a "define" feature that works like a find-and-replace: you tell it to swap a placeholder like "API_URL" with an actual web address when the code is compiled. This project sets up a simple demonstration showing that if you try to use this feature on a local variable (one that only exists inside a specific function), Rolldown won't replace it. It only performs the replacement on global variables that are accessible throughout the entire codebase. The person who would use this is a developer trying to understand why their code isn't behaving as expected when using Rolldown. For example, if a developer sets up a build process expecting certain values to be automatically swapped in, but notices some of them aren't changing, this project helps explain why. It serves as a concrete, reproducible example that a developer could use to report the behavior, verify whether it's a bug or an intentional design choice, or compare how other tools handle the same scenario. To help with that comparison, the project includes the same test case set up with a few other popular bundling tools. This lets a developer see side-by-side whether tools like esbuild or Rollup handle the same situation differently, making it easier to understand the quirks of each tool before committing to one for a real project.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1
Set up a minimal JavaScript project that tests whether a bundler's define option replaces both global and local variable references, using Rolldown as the bundler.
Prompt 2
Create side-by-side test cases for Rolldown, esbuild, and Rollup that demonstrate how each tool handles define substitution on local versus global variables.
Prompt 3
Write a build script that uses Rolldown's define option to replace a placeholder like API_URL, and include test code showing the difference between declaring that placeholder as a global versus a local variable inside a function.

Frequently asked questions

wtf is rolldown-define-testbed?

A test project showing that Rolldown's define option only replaces global variables, not local ones. It includes side-by-side comparisons with other bundlers like esbuild and Rollup.

What language is rolldown-define-testbed written in?

Mainly JavaScript. The stack also includes JavaScript, Rolldown, esbuild.

Is rolldown-define-testbed actively maintained?

Stale — no commits in 1-2 years (last push 2025-04-25).

How hard is rolldown-define-testbed to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is rolldown-define-testbed for?

Mainly developer.

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