Part 2 / Concepts / What is SvelteKit?

So far, we've been working on individual components, or groups of components, in isolation. But to build a complete app, you need more than just components.

That's where SvelteKit comes in. Whereas Svelte is a component framework, SvelteKit is an app framework (or 'metaframework', depending on who you ask) that solves the tricky problems of building something production-ready:

• Routing
• Server-side rendering
• Data fetching
• Service workers
• TypeScript integration
• Prerendering
• Single-page apps
• Library packaging
• Optimised production builds
• Deploying to different hosting providers
• ...and so on

SvelteKit apps are server-rendered by default (like traditional 'multi-page apps' or MPAs) for excellent first load performance and SEO characteristics, but can then transition to client-side navigation (like modern 'single-page apps' or SPAs) to avoid jankily reloading everything (including things like third-party analytics code) when the user navigates. They can run anywhere JavaScript runs, though — as we'll see — your users may not need to run any JavaScript at all.

If that sounds complicated, worry not: you've been using SvelteKit this whole time!