What's the difference between the `public` directory and the `src/assets` directory in Vite?

public directory:

• Files are served directly without processing
• Accessed using absolute paths from root (/favicon.ico)
• Not processed by Vite's build pipeline
• Good for: favicons, robots.txt, manifest files
• Files keep their original names in production

src/assets directory:

• Files are processed by Vite's build pipeline
• Imported in JavaScript/CSS and get hashed filenames
• Can be optimized, compressed, or transformed
• Good for: images, fonts, CSS files used in components
• Benefit from tree-shaking (unused assets are excluded)

Example:

// src/assets - processed and hashed
import logo from './assets/logo.png'

// public - served directly
// Reference as '/logo.png' in HTML