Some thoughts...

[Zettersten]

Overly generalized opinions incoming...

There are two main categories of .NET web-based client-side developers:

Static Reference Developers:

• These developers typically reference resources either from a Content Delivery Network (CDN) such as jsDelivr, or from a path in the wwwroot directory.
• Some developers may also use NPM or LibMan with a build process to publish resources to the wwwroot directory.

Dynamic NPM + Build Developers:

• These developers install node packages and use a builder such as Rollup or Webpack.
• They may also use language supersets such as SASS and TypeScript.

Pros of the Static Reference Developers:

• Easy to implement and follows conventional practice.

Cons of the Static Reference Developers:

• They must bake-in a bundling and minification process.
• No tree-shaking is available, which means every package comes with additional unnecessary resources.
• Direct reference to modern projects and packages that use ES6 (module syntax) is not supported.

Pros of the Dynamic NPM + Build Developers:

• Bundling and minification is handled by the builders (Webpack or Rollup).
• Tree-shaking is available, which ensures only required resources are produced.
• The package.json file is the single source of truth, making it easy to manage versions.
• Outputs are specified in language targets (BabelJS, etc.).

Cons of the Dynamic NPM + Build Developers:

• Setup can be complex and require additional configurations for watch, builds, etc.
• Builders like Webpack come with their own development server and hot-reload feature that may conflict with Visual Studio.