Handy Utilities for Node.js
Node.js is a tool used in different ways in a variety of workflows and for a variety of purposes such as Front-end, back-end, APIs, robotics, APIs, and much more.
Node.js has been one of the best tools to build small, modular tools to make developer’s lives easier.
In this article, we have collected a list of different modules that a developer can install globally on their system to help improve their development workflow.
Create-react-app:
Firstly, install
npm install create-react-app –global
Create React App is a project to spin up a boilerplate application with React in just one command. It frames the fundamentals of React application with the necessities, including development tooling and a local server, out of the box testing, and a build step to prepare the React application for production.
Branch-diff:
Install:
npm install branch-diff –global
Branch-diff is a CLI tool that diffs two branches in a Git repository and produces a list of differences between two passed branches. The list can either be output as markdown or as console output. This small tool is useful when the developer is working across multiple branches and are looking to get a summary of the differences between the two branches.
Nodemon:
Install:
npm install nodemon –global
Nodemon is a small utility that will automate restarting a Node.js application when it detects a file change in the directory it runs in. Nodemon is a simple CLI tool that is exceptionally useful when working on a Node.js application and restating quickly – it will cut out the repetitive steps of switching to the terminal, ending the application’s process, and then restarting the application.
Localtunnel:
Install:
npm install localtunnel –global
Localtunnel is a helpful module that will expose an application running on localhost with a single command. For instance, if the developer is working with APIs and needs to provide a public URL, then the developer can use localtunnel to get an online, accessible URL without the need to deploy. Also, it is excellent for collaboration.
NVM – The Node Version Manager
Install:
# Since nvm’s not an npm module, you can install with cURL or wget
# Install with cURL:
Curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.33.0/install.sh | bash
# Install with wget:
wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.33.0/install.sh | bash
NVM is a CLI tool which is exceptionally helpful for Node.js developers. It also allows version management of Node.js. This means the developer can download, swap, and test on any version of Node.js. This is handy for testing modules on the current release line, in addition to the LTS release lines.