Install node and npm

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Tech • Development
node • nodejs • npm

Node.js is a JavaScript runtime built on Chrome’s V8 JavaScript engine. Node.js uses an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model that makes it lightweight and efficient. Node.js’s package ecosystem, NPM, is the largest ecosystem of open source libraries in the world.

NPM is a package manager for JavaScript. Use NPM to install, share, and distribute code; manage dependencies in your projects; and share & receive feedback with others.

Install node

For Windows and Mac users

The installer can be downloaded from here.

For Linux users

There are following ways available to install Node.js:

Node.js is available from the NodeSource Debian and Ubuntu binary distributions repository (formerly Chris Lea’s Launchpad PPA). Support for this repository, along with its scripts, can be found on GitHub at nodesource/distributions.

Open your terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) and enter:

#for Node-4.x
curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_4.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

#For Node-6.x
curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_6.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

2. From Node Package Manager(npm)

Latest and stable, both versions of Node are available. Follow these steps to install node:

  1. Install NPM. If you have already installed it, skip to step 3.

  2. To install NPM, find the instructions here.

  3. Enter the following commands in terminal to install/upgrade latest stable version Node.js:

    sudo npm cache clean -f
sudo npm install -g n
sudo n stable

    The n package represents a Node helper.

    Any specific version can be installed by:

    sudo n 6.2.1

3. From native Software Center

A stable version of node is available built at the time of release of your current OS.

To install, open terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) and enter:

# for ubuntu user
sudo apt-get install nodejs

Once, any of the above step is completed, you can confirm the installation by:

node -v
v6.2.1

Install npm

For Windows and Macintosh users

NPM comes along with Node.js installer which can be found here.

For Linux users

NPM is available in native software center

# for ubuntu users
sudo apt-get install npm

Check the version of npm by:

npm --version
3.9.3

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