Node.js

Node.js is a free, open-source, cross-platform JavaScript runtime environment that lets developers create servers, web apps, command line tools and scripts.

Semantic Versioning of Npm Packages After a Dependency Update

Semantic Versioning (semver) is a versioning scheme that is officially recommended by npm. It recommends every package to be versioned in the format MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH and to follow 3 basic principles of incrementing/bumping (Quoted from https://semver.org/): MAJOR version when you make incompatible API changes; MINOR version when you add functionality in a backward compatible manner; PATCH version when you make backward-compatible bug fixes. Under the scheme of Semantic Versioning, how should we increment the version of a package after updating a dependency/optional dependency as specified in dependencies/optionalDependencies, a dev dependency as specified in devDependencies, or a peer dependency as specified in peerDependencies? ...

Guides to Creating Cross-Platform Node.js Scripts

Node.js allows defining scripts in package.json. This feature often constitutes a major component of a developer’s workflow. For example, developers can define procedures such as building, testing, and deployment as scripts in package.json. If the project is intended to be cross-platform, the scripts should also be cross-platform. In this post, we discuss guidelines and tips on how to create Node.js scripts that work on both Windows and POSIX systems (e.g., GNU/Linux, MacOS). The central tenet is using cross-platform Node.js features instead of POSIX/Windows-specific commands. ...

Exploring the Difference Between the Effects of Dependencies and Peer Dependencies after NPM v7

Npm allows multiple types of dependencies, two of which are dependencies and peerDependencies. Semantically, they refer to different things: peerDependencies expresses the compatibility of a package with a host tool or library, usually referred to as a plugin, while dependencies expresses dependencies in the general sense. Despite being two distinct types of dependencies, since v7, npm installs both types of dependencies by default. In this post, we explore the answer to the question: What are the differences between the effects of the two types of dependencies? ...