Here are some node (JavaScript) packages that you should be using on a daily bases. They will save you time/money doing various tasks.
git cz
npm install -g git-cz
“git commitizen” is a package to help you follow the Conventional Commits specification.
After staging your changes (git add .) run git cz and it will ask you a few questions and build your commit message based on them.
ncu or npm-check
npm install -g npm-check-updates or npm install -g npm-check
npm-check-updates on npmjs.com or npm-check on npmjs.com
These are 2 different packages to help you manage/upgrade packages on your projects.
I (and most people) prefer npm-check-updates (ncu), it’s simple to use, and has a cleaner output.
After installing run ncu on your project root folder to see the packages that can be upgraded, and ncu -u to upgrade them followed by npm i.
tldr
npm install -g tldr
As the name suggests this package gives you quick/short access to documentation, more precisely Linux man pages.
n
npm install -g n
n is a package used to change between node versions.
It’s as easy as n latest or n stable or n 12.16.3 and you are now running a different node version. You can combine this with other commands to temporarily run something in a different node version
I used this to temporarily bypass a bug in Gulp 4: n 10.16.3 && gulp default && n 12.16.3
There’s also an alternative called nvm.
ts-node
npm install -g ts-node
(make sure you have TypeScript installed: npm install -g typescript)
If you have been using TypeScript you had to run tsc file.ts and then node file.js or combine them into one command tsc file.ts && node file.js, this is where ts-node comes in to save the day.
You just have to run ts-node file.ts and it will compile and execute the JavaScript file.
ngrok
npm install -g ngrok
nrgok allows you to tunnel/port forward your local ports and gives you a public URL to access them.
Let’s say you have your local project running on localhost:5000, you can port forward it and have a public URL by doing ngrok http 5000.
Now you have a public URL that you can share with anyone to test your project and as soon as you are done you stop the process and it’s gone.
P.S. Theres also npm install -g http-server but that one only makes a simple local server for the folder you are in, for that I would recommend that you use Python that is already installed on your system python3 -m http.server 8000.
nodemon
npm install -g nodemon
nodemon is a tool that helps develop node.js based applications by automatically restarting the node application when file changes in the directory are detected.
Did you know that you can use it with other languages? Like: TypeScript and Python!? 🤯
Yes, you can use nodemon to execute your python scripts every time the file changes!
Examples:
nodemon file.js
nodemon file.ts
nodemon --quiet file.js
nodemon --exec python3 file.py
I recommend you always add --quiet to avoid extra debug messages.
By default it will use node for .js files, ts-node for .ts and python for .py. (I had to specify --exec python3 because my system doesn’t have python correctly mapped)
npm ci instead of npm i
This one isn’t a node package per se but a command npm ci that you should be using instead of npm i (short for npm install).
Why? You ask.
- It clears your
node_modulesfolder first. - Install packages based on the
package-lock.jsonfile respecting exact versions without upgrading. - Doesn’t modify the
package-lock.jsonfile.
This can be very useful combined with n to debug something on a given node version and reinstalling the exact same package versions.
tetris
npm install -g tetris
Yes, Tetris! Just try it!
Pro tip: run ncu -g to list which global packages you have outdated, then run the entire npm install command it gives you to update them.
Alternatively, run npm list -g --depth=0 to list all global packages installed and npm outdated -g --depth=0 to list the outdated ones, and then npm update -g to update them.
The reason I don’t recommend the “native” npm command is that it doesn’t jump major versions and in my case it crashed halfway and left half of my global packages not installed, which was a nightmare to fix. That’s why I recommend you list all your packages first and then update them, in case something goes wrong you have the list and can install them back one by one.
Do you know other useful packages that I should be using? Tweet them at me!
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