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0 pointsdpacmittal6y ago0 comments

Why not nodejs? Just curious

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Tomte6y ago· 2 in thread

Because it's yet another full ecosystem with lots of dependencies where I have zero knowledge and experience.

For example, all those packages say "npm install packagename" to install, but it didn't work for me. It seems I have to (sometimes?) do a "npm init" first. No install instructions ever tell you that.

I'm sure when you're in the ecosystem, that's a given. For me it's hurdle after hurdle.

That's why I named Go and Ruby as examples. The former because you usually get a standalone executable, the latter because I already have that toolchain installed, and I know how to navigate it.

Unfortunately, everything in webdev is now node.js. Just look at any CSS framework docs (including Tailwinds, which I really like): it's an endless stream of pre-processors and post-processors, multiplied with all kinds of ES versions, Babel, yarn-or-npm, this build tool or that. It just doesn't end.

Rant over. :-)

jazoom6y ago

I've been using NodeJS for about 5 years and have never seen the init usage you're talking about. `npm init` initialises your new project. At least I think that's the case, because I've never run that command. I just create a package.json file myself. Also, I use yarn instead of npm. But of course, because change, there is now a new way to use init that you just alerted me to. It sure seems like an unnecessary complication. I recommend using yarn, by the way.

Tomte6y ago

I read the first part of your comment and thought "okay, I expected that I probably misunderstood the init thing".

Nothing to feel bad about, as I said, I'm an outsider, but still annoying to get it wrong in my comment.

And then I read the second part and am simply astonished. I wasn't wrong? I just happened to stumble upon a quirk that changed recently? That's something.

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