Managing Packages with NPM

NPM “Node Package Manager” is one of the tools that you will surely use most frequently in the development environment.

NPM is a package manager that is mainly used in the Node.js and JavaScript development environment. NPM was created to facilitate the installation, management, and updating of dependencies for Node.js projects.

Since Node.js has become one of the most important tools for software development, NPM is also a utility that you will use very frequently. Therefore, it is advisable to learn how to use it.

Main features of NPM

Package repository

NPM provides a public online repository that hosts a huge amount of open-source software packages. Currently, the NPM Registry contains millions of packages available for download and use.

Installation and management of packages

NPM facilitates the installation and management of Node.js packages in our projects. To install a package, we simply run a command in the command line and NPM will take care of downloading the package and all its dependencies automatically. In addition, we can also easily update or delete packages.

Scripts

NPM allows you to define custom scripts. These scripts allow us to automate common tasks, such as running tests, compiling code, or generating documentation.

Basic usage of NPM

Let’s see some basic NPM commands to be able to use it in Node.Js projects.

Creating a Node.js project

To create a new Node.js project, we run the following command.

npm init

This creates a package.json file, which is the starting point for creating a project in Node.js.

Installing dependencies

To install all the packages listed as dependencies in the package.json file, simply do:

npm install

The libraries are downloaded and stored in the node_modules folder.

Adding a package

To install a package, use the following command:

npm install package-name

This command will download the package and all its dependencies to your project directory.

Updating packages

If you want to update a package to the latest available version, use the following command:

npm update package-name

Removing packages

If you no longer need a package in your project, you can delete it using the following command:

npm uninstall package-name

Running scripts

If you have defined scripts in your package.json file, you can run them using the command:

npm run script-name