npm explained
How npm, the Node.js package manager, works: package.json and scripts, installing dependencies and devDependencies, semantic versioning and version ranges, package-lock.json and npm ci, node_modules, npx, updating and auditing, workspaces, publishing, and alternatives like pnpm and Yarn.
CodexBash, , 5 min read
Almost every JavaScript project, front end or back end, depends on dozens or hundreds of packages written by others, and npm is the tool that manages them. It comes bundled with Node.js and talks to the npm registry, the largest collection of open-source packages in the world. Most developers learn just npm install and npm start, and then get confused by version ranges, lock files and mysterious "works on my machine" bugs. This article explains how npm actually works so those stop being mysteries.
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