What’s coming in Babel 8

Babel, originally named 6to5, is a crucial JavaScript toolchain that facilitates the conversion of ECMAScript 2015+ code into a version compatible with older JavaScript environments, thereby allowing developers to use the latest language features without waiting for browser support. Babel 8 introduces several new features, including a new JSX transform that simplifies the creation of JSX elements in React, full support for TypeScript 3.8, and improvements for handling class fields in Flow and TypeScript. The release also drops support for core-js version 2 due to performance issues, while introducing enhancements like transforming JSX spread properties using the useSpread feature and disabling submodule exports for better package management. The update aims to ease the migration process with minimal breaking changes and offers an accessible transition strategy from previous versions, even as it continues to build on its robust framework of presets and plugins for code transformation and polyfilling.