octanejs/octane

Octane is a JavaScript framework for building the visual interface of websites and apps, positioned as a faster successor to an older project called Inferno. It lets developers write components using the same programming style as React, a very popular framework for building web interfaces, but instead of running that code through a system called a virtual DOM, Octane compiles the components ahead of time into code that updates the actual page directly. The project is built by the same person who created Inferno, who has also worked on React, Lexical, Ripple, and Svelte. Because it reuses React's programming model, the README states that most existing React knowledge carries over directly: familiar tools like useState, useEffect, memo, context, and Suspense behave the same way, and the project tracks how closely its behavior matches React in a published comparison report. Octane accepts standard React style code out of the box, so a component copied from React's documentation can run as is. It also offers an optional file format called tsrx, described as a spiritual successor to JSX, which adds shortcuts for writing conditional logic and loops that compile into optimized code, along with editor support for syntax highlighting and autocomplete. Both styles of code can be mixed within the same application. One notable difference from React is that Octane's compiler can automatically figure out which values a piece of code depends on, removing the need to manually list dependencies by hand in certain hooks, something React normally requires developers to track themselves. The project deliberately leaves out some parts of React, such as class based components and Server Components, treating those omissions as intentional design choices rather than missing features. To get started, a developer needs Node.js version 22.22.2 or newer and can scaffold a new project with a single command, choosing between a browser only app or a fullstack app with server rendering built in. Octane works with the Vite, Rspack, and Rsbuild build tools and is currently in an alpha stage, meaning its core pieces work but interfaces may still change, backed by more than 3,900 automated tests. It is released under the MIT license.