npm – the Node.js package management system

As described in Chapter 2, Setting up Node.js, npm is a package management and distribution system for Node.js. It has become the de-facto standard for distributing modules (packages) for use with Node.js. Conceptually, it's similar to tools such as apt-get (Debian), rpm/yum (Redhat/Fedora), MacPorts (Mac OS X), CPAN (Perl), or PEAR (PHP). Its' purpose is publishing and distributing Node.js packages over the Internet using a simple command-line interface. With npm, you can quickly find packages to serve specific purposes, download them, install them, and manage packages you've already installed.

The npm package defines a package format for Node.js largely based on the CommonJS package specification. It ...

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