Node 19

Update: Version 19 has reached its end of life, check out Node.js 20 and Node.js 22!

Last week Node.js announced the release of version 19.

While it is not an LTS release, it does come with a really cool feature: --watch.

Using the --watch flag, you can have Node.js automatically restart the process if the files being watched change. Running Node.js in watch mode is as Running node --watch index.js. If you are using more than one file in your project, you can also use the --watch-path flag.

The --watch-path flag can be specified multiple times to watch different directories. One important thing to note is, --watch works on all platforms while --watch-path only works on macOS and Windows at this time. Linux users will get an ERR_FEATURE_UNAVAILABLE_ON_PLATFORM error. While this feature does overshadow projects like nodemon, I am sure that nodemon will continue to distinguish itself with features beyond what Node.js offers.

This release of Node.js includes other items, like a stable WebCrypto API and an updated V8 engine. Check out the release blog post for all the other details.