Imagine you are working on a web project. After putting in a lot of effort, you realize it’s necessary to add a navbar at the top of your project or maybe some forms for the signup page of your website. Now you have two options: either build them yourself or use a component library where these elements are already created, with multiple types of navbars and forms to choose from. Using these pre-built components from a library is a smarter choice as it keeps your code clean and saves time.
Now, you’ve decided to use components from a library. Regardless of whether your project is small or large, you might need several other software packages too, since you don’t want to build everything yourself. However, installing multiple software packages manually by visiting each website isn’t efficient.
This is where npm (Node Package Manager) comes in as a solution. npm is the world’s largest software registry, where almost every open-source, free software package can be found. Instead of going to multiple websites to install your desired software, you can simply visit the npm website, where you’ll find all the necessary documentation for installing the software you need.
To use npm, you first need to install Node.js on your computer. npm operates through a command-line interface (CLI). The usual installation command for software is:
npm install daisyuiYou can find all the installed software listed in the package.json file.
Moreover, you can share your own software to the npm registry, making it available for others to use. Updating any packages you are using in your project is also simple. To update a package, the command is:
npm update <your-package-name>