A glossary of terms for Node.js.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
Node.js |
JavaScript for servers. |
web server |
Program that processes requests for the internet via HTTP. |
HTTP |
Short for HyperText Transfer Protocol. The set of standards for transferring files over the internet. |
npm |
Package manager for Node.js. Allows you to install and publish open source Node projects. |
npm package |
Open source Node project, published on npm. |
npm init |
Command run in the terminal to initialise your Node project and create a package.json file. |
npm install <package-name> |
Command run in the terminal to install an npm package. |
npm install <package-name> --save |
Command run in the terminal to install an npm package, --save or -S instructs NPM to include the package inside of the dependencies section of your package.json automatically. Refer Docs. |
npm install <package-name> --save-dev |
Command run in the terminal to install an npm package, --save-dev or -D instructs NPM to include the package inside of the devDependencies section of your package.json automatically. |
npm install <package-name> --save-optional |
Command run in the terminal to install an npm package, --save-optional or -O instructs NPM to include the package inside of the optionalDependencies section of your package.json automatically. |
package.json |
File holding various metadata about a Node project, such as project name, description or license information, installed packages (aka dependencies). Usually located in the root directory. Package.json cheatsheet here. |
dependencies |
Packages installed from npm that are necessary to run the project successfully. Listed in the package.json. |