Chapter 1. Instant Node Package Manager

Welcome to Instant Node Package Manager. This book has been specially created to provide you with all the information that you need to get set up with node.js and npm. You will learn the basic usage of node package manager, get started with building your first node module, and discover some tips and tricks for using the npm command line.

This document contains the following sections:

So, what is Node Package Manager? describes what npm actually is, what you can do with it, and why it's so great.

Installation helps us to learn how to download and install node.js and npm with minimum fuss, and then set it up so that you can use it as soon as possible.

Quick start – creating your first npm module will show you how to perform one of the core tasks of npm: creating and installing node modules with a simple yet powerful example. Follow the steps to create your own node module, and automate installing and publishing the modules, and publish your node module on standard npm registry.

Top 10 features you need to know about will help you to learn how to perform 10 tasks with the most important features of npm. By the end of this section you will be able to install dependencies on external node modules automatically, resolve dependencies by linking locally, publish your code on standard npm registry, create and publish node.js executables, and running arbitrary scripts on certain events.

People and places you should get to know shows that every open source project is centered on a community. This section provides you with many useful links to the project page and forums, as well as a number of helpful articles, tutorials, blogs, and the Twitter feeds of node.js super-contributors.