Setting Up Projects Using Node and npm for Beginners

Node.js and npm (Node Package Manager) are essential tools for modern web development. Node.js is a runtime environment that allows you to run JavaScript on the server side, while npm is a package manager that helps you install, update, and manage JavaScript packages (libraries and tools). The following notes assume Node and npm have been installed using instructions from the official website.

Basics

• Initialize a new npm project by creating a package.json file. This file keeps track of your project’s dependencies and configurations. The -y keeps the process short without being prompted of a lot of redundant options.

npm init -y

Remember for this default flag -y npm always assumed the main js file is index.js so name it accordingly.

• To install a package (e.g., Express for creating web servers), use the npm install command or npm i. This installs the package locally which means it is installed only for this project. Any install command will create a node_modules folder in your project directory and install all dependencies there.

• To install a package globally (available system-wide), use the -g flag:

npm install -g nodemon

• To remove a package, use the uninstall command:

npm uninstall express

• To update a package to the latest version, use the update command:

npm update express

• To list all the packages installed in your project:

npm list

Setting up and running a Node project

If a refresher on general file/folder structure of node applications are needed, check out File Structure for a Node.js Application before running a project to have a clear overview.

• Firstly, check for package.json. The presence of a package.json file in the root directory of the repository indicates that it’s a Node.js project. Open the package.json file to see the project details.

An existing project already has the required dependencies listed on package.json file. This means simply install it using this command:

npm install

• If the project needs to be built before running, look for a build script in package.json and run:

npm run build

• Next, check for scripts in package.json. Open the package.json file and look for the scripts section. This section defines various commands to run your project. An example including start, build, test, etc:

"scripts": {
  "start": "node index.js",
  "build": "webpack --config webpack.config.js",
  "test": "jest"
}

• Now we can probably run the project. The start script is already there so we can simply

npm start

to start running the project.