# Introducing bun, a new package manager and JavaScript runtime environment

DevFeed: [Introducing bun, a new package manager and JavaScript runtime environment](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/introducing-bun-a-new-package-manager-and-javascript-runtime-environment-22421.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.tjmaher.com/2026/08/introducing-bun-new-package-manager-and.html>)

Author: T.J. Maher (noreply@blogger.com)

Published: 2026-08-06T01:58:25Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [T.J. Maher](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/t-j-maher.md>)

Topics: [Bun](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/bun.md>), [Package manager](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/package-manager.md>), [JavaScript](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/javascript.md>), [Playwright](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/playwright.md>), [Node.js](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/node-js.md>)

Tags: [bun](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/bun.md>), [bun-create-playwright](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/bun-create-playwright.md>), [getting-started](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/getting-started.md>), [installation](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/installation.md>), [javascript](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/javascript.md>), [node-js](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/node-js.md>), [playwright](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/playwright.md>), [test-automation](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/test-automation.md>), [typescript](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/typescript.md>)

## AI overview

This article examines Bun as a JavaScript package manager and runtime, including its use with Playwright projects. It explains how Bun compares with npm, Yarn, and pnpm, and discusses its integrated tooling and claimed performance advantages.

## Source excerpt

New job? New toolset to explore! In this post I'll be investigating a new JavaScript package manager and runtime environment called bun.sh. You may have noticed on Playwright.Dev's Getting Started / Installation section there are three different ways to install a ui or api test automation framework with the latest version of Playwright: npm init playwright@latest yarn create playwright pnpm create playwright For this blog post I'll be investigating a fourth way, the new toolset they just started using at work, bun.sh. bun create playwright What is npm, yarn, pnpm, and bun? These are called package managers. What is a package? Developing a project, you don't have to figure out how to code everything yourself. You can include in your projects outside libraries, or "packages" of code from from the public JavaScript registry npmjs.com. The problem is that these packages then need to be downloaded, installed, managed, and updated whenever they are updated. JavaScript projects can use a package manager, such as bun, to help this process. When putting together a Playwright automation framework based around JavaScript and TypeScript, Playwright uses the Node.js JavaScript runtime environment, to run its test runner, execute automation scripts, and manage its browser instances.(See Nodejs.org / About ) There is a division of labor: Node.js runs these internal functions like running tests. NPM, Yarn, PNPM, and now Bun handle the packages. Why are there so many package managers? Each has its own specialization. The original NPM is bundled already with Node.js. Yarn is a Facebook toolset that was created when NPM was found to work too slow. PNPM was created to be smaller and therefore faster. And bun was built for quick startup and installation speed, good especially if you have a CI/ CD pipeline that has a LOT of packages to install each time the tests run. NPM, released in 2010, is the Node Package Manager for Node.js, a JavaScript Runtime Environment. According to NodeJS.org