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Node.js - dependencies and dev dependencies
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In this article, we would like to show you the difference between dependencies and dev dependencies in Node.js.
Dependencies
When you install an npm
package locally you install it as a normal dependency.
It is automatically added to the package.json file to the depencencies
list.
Example package.json with dependencies:
{
"name": "my-app",
"version": "1.0.0",
"main": "index.js",
"scripts": {
"test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
},
"dependencies": {
"bcrypt": "^5.0.1",
"dotenv": "^10.0.0"
}
}
Note:
Go to the following article to see how to install npm package locally:
Dev dependencies
To install npm
package as devDependencies
, you need to add -D
flag (or --save-dev
) to the npm install
command:
npm install -D package-name
or:
npm install --save-dev package-name
The development dependencies are required only during the development process (e.g unit testing).
They are added to the package.json file to the devDependency
list.
Example package.json with devDependencies
list:
{
"name": "my-app",
"version": "1.0.0",
"main": "index.js",
"scripts": {
"test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
},
"devDependencies": {
"nodemon": "^2.0.12"
}
}