Brian Douglass
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NPM Basics
Tips and resources for getting started with NPM and Package.json.
NodeSource has recently released a 3-part blog series about NPM basics. This is a good resource for developers new to NPM and the package.json format. But it is a good refresher for experienced developers as well. I believe it is important to get back to the basics sometimes. I’ve also learned a few things from these articles.
The first post is: “ The Basics: Getting started with npm ”.
It goes over initializing a node project with NPM, installing dependencies, installing
dev dependencies, and installing modules globally. One new thing I picked up was the
npm init --yes command. This instantly generates a package.json without any inputs.
Combine this with settings in your .npmrc file for the best experience. Here is an example
of the configuration I have already been using:
init-author-name=Brian Douglass
[email protected]
init-author-url=https://bhdouglass.com/
init-license=GPL-3.0
init-version=0.0.1
Check out the NPM docs
for further information about the .npmrc file options.
The second post is: “ The Basics of Package.json ”. This goes over most of the parts of a package.json file, including dependencies and metadata-related fields. If you are interested in the full package.json schema, read more on the NPM docs .
The final post is: “ Understanding dependencies inside your Package.json ”. It gives a brief overview of the various lesser-known dependency options. This includes PeerDependencies, OptionalDependencies, and BundledDependencies. Additionally, it goes over some of the host-related fields in a package.json file.
Check out the NodeSource Blog and subscribe to their RSS feed for more articles about Node.js!
