Empowering the Future of Ember: Intercom's Support for the Embroider Initiative

For over nine years, Intercom, a renowned leader in customer messaging platforms, has forged a robust partnership with Ember, a JavaScript framework. This enduring relationship has not only persisted but has flourished as both Intercom and Ember have evolved and expanded their capabilities.

With a dedicated team of approximately 150 engineers focused on their core application, Intercom boasts a remarkable pace of shipping hundreds of updates to production each week.

The driving force behind their development triumph lies in Ember's opinionated framework, renowned for its "batteries included" nature. This synergy aligns seamlessly with Intercom's pursuit of efficiency and the delivery of high-quality solutions to its customers.

The Significance of Embroider

At the heart of Ember's evolution lies Embroider, the framework's next-generation build system. This cutting-edge system represents a substantial leap forward in the development of the Ember JavaScript framework. Its core function serves as a bridge, enabling Ember to harness the capabilities of modern JavaScript ecosystem build tools like Vite or Turbopack.

This strategic move empowers the entire Ember community by allowing it to draw upon the collective expertise of the broader JavaScript community. In doing so, Ember can concentrate its efforts on enhancing its core differentiating functionalities, fostering innovation and rapid development.

Addressing the Need for Speed

A compelling rationale behind Intercom's embrace of Embroider is the pursuit of expedited build times. The pre-existing classic ember-cli build system had been causing slowdowns in the development workflow, particularly with local build refresh times averaging around 15 seconds. Given the frequency of builds across Intercom's engineering teams, this translated into over 2,400 hours spent annually waiting for local development environments to refresh.

Embracing Embroider is expected to yield significant improvements, with an anticipated average refresh time of just 1 second. This potential enhancement could save the company approximately 2,000 hours annually, significantly reducing wait times and unleashing the advantages of instant feedback for developers.

A Two-Year Journey Towards Adoption

Intercom embarked on its journey to adopt Embroider approximately two years ago. While significant progress has been made, it's important to note that Embroider is still in development and not yet deemed ready for production use. This reality is particularly relevant for large-scale applications like the one employed by Intercom.

Supporting the Embroider Initiative

Intercom's steadfast commitment to Ember's future is exemplified by its active support for the Embroider Initiative. This strategic endeavor seeks to accelerate the development of Embroider, with the ultimate goal of establishing it as the default build tool for Ember in the short term.

Numerous companies have united in this mission, providing funding for a dedicated engineering team to drive the project's development. Additionally, resources are being created to facilitate contributions from the broader community.

The Embroider Initiative is spearheaded by Mainmatter, a web engineering consultancy, in collaboration with the Ember community. Intercom joins a growing list of sponsors who are actively backing this effort.

Dedicated Investment in Open Source

Intercom recognizes the profound impact of open-source software and is dedicated to giving back to the community. Ember, lovingly maintained by a passionate group of volunteers, has played a pivotal role in Intercom's journey over the past decade.

In the spirit of mutual growth and gratitude, Intercom actively sponsors initiatives that contribute to the open-source ecosystem. These include the Embroider Initiative, EmberConf, EmberFest, and EmberEurope.

Intercom's enduring commitment to innovation and its unwavering support for the open-source community are exemplified through its active role in shaping Ember's future.

By embracing Embroider and investing in open-source projects, Intercom sets a compelling example for companies to pay forward their success and ensure the sustained growth of the technologies that have played pivotal roles in their achievements. The collaborative efforts between companies like Intercom and the Ember community underscore the transformative potential of community-driven innovation in the ever-evolving landscape of technology.

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