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✍️ Notes for “Node.js”

• What is it?

  • Node.js® is a JavaScript runtime built on Chrome’s V8 JavaScript engine.
  • Node.js is an event-based, non-blocking, asynchronous I/O runtime that uses Google’s V8 JavaScript engine and libuv library.
  • It’s a JavaScript runtime.

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• Google Chrome’s V8 JavaScript Engine

  • The V8 engine is the open-source JavaScript engine that runs in Google Chrome and other Chromium-based web browsers
  • It was designed with performance in mind and is responsible for compiling JavaScript directly to native machine code that your computer can execute.
  • Node programs are NOT executed in a browser. Ryan Dahl took the V8 engine and enhanced it with various features, such as a file system API, an HTTP library, and a number of operating system–related utility methods
  • This means that Node.js is a program we can use to execute JavaScript on our computers.

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• Helpful Terminal Commands

  • $ node file_name.js to execute the file
  • $ node -v will show you the version of Node installed on your local machine.
  • $ npm -v to check which version of Node Package Manager is installed
  • $ npm init -y will simply generate an empty npm project and auto-populate a package.json file in the same folder without going through an interactive process. The -y stands for yes.

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• Node Package Manager (npm)

  • In addition to being the package manager for JavaScript, npm is also the world’s largest software registry.
  • node_modules is where npm saves packages and any libraries that those packages depend on. The node_modules folder shouldn’t be checked in to version control, and can, in fact, be re-created at any time by running npm install ($ npm i) from within the project’s root.
  • inside the package.json file is all of the project’s dependencies which will allow any developer anywhere to clone your project and use npm to install whatever packages it needs to run.

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• Install Node

  • Official Node Download Page
  • Install Multiple Versions of Node.js using nvm.
  • $ node -v will show you the version of Node installed on your local machine.

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📚 Resources Used in “Node.js”

• Node.js