npm

NPM, which stands for Node Package Manager, is a package manager for the [[JavaScript]] programming language and is the default package manager for the JavaScript runtime environment [[NodeJS|Node.js]]. It consists of a command-line client (npm), as well as an online database of public and paid-for private packages, called the npm registry.

NPM allows developers to install, update, and manage software dependencies for their JavaScript projects. These dependencies are defined in a file called package.json. It provides access to hundreds of thousands of reusable packages. Developers can download packages needed for their projects and also publish their own packages to share with the community.

NPM helps in managing different versions of packages and resolving version conflicts. package.json can be used to define scripts for automating various development tasks.

Some example commands may be:

npm init

This command sets up a new Node.js project by creating a package.json file.

npm install express

This installs the [[express]] package, a popular Node.js framework.

npm install

In a project directory, this command installs all the dependencies listed in the project's package.json file.

npm update lodash

This updates the lodash package to its latest version.

If package.json includes a script named start, it can be run with:

npm start

npm install -g typescript

This installs the TypeScript compiler globally.

In web development, NPM is used extensively for managing the multitude of libraries and frameworks that modern web applications depend on. It simplifies the process of sharing, updating, and using code across multiple projects.