Lucy McCain

Oct 26, 2022

Best NPM Packages

Node js can handle huge traffic while maintaining seamless performance. As a result, some major tech companies and new-age startups have adopted Node js to scale their businesses. 

Node is the market leader in asynchronous frameworks due to its popular demand.  And apparently, Node isn’t slowing down anytime soon. 

Starting with Node js is pretty straightforward. Clear guidelines exist and hundreds of projects are available on GitHub for developers to read, review and analyze. 

Also, Node js has the most popular package manager – NPM. NPM is the default package manager for the JS runtime environment Node js. Thanks to the modules and libraries available through the NPM package manager, creating a website takes only a few minutes. 

Developers love these NPM packages and use them extensively in web development. However, they also get overwhelmed because there are thousands of packages. So, here is a list of the top 10 NPM packages for Node js developers.

Here is the list of most popular NPM Packages:

1- Express

2- AsyncJS

3- Lodash

4- Cloudinary

5- Axios

6- Karma

7- Molecular

8- Grunt

9- PM2

10- Mocha

Express

Express.js is the simplest and fastest Node.js web framework. This framework was designed to be flexible enough to produce single-page apps, multi-page apps, and hybrid apps for desktop and mobile devices.  Express’s architecture is compact and provides great performance. Express is the most popular Node js framework for developing online apps and APIs, and solid tooling for HTTP servers. 

Other popular Node js frameworks Sails, Hapi, and Nest js are based on Express. 

Async

Async or Asynchronous is widely used in Node js to ensure that development actions do not stall. Other processes can proceed even before the first action is completed thanks to asynchronous I/O. 

Also, Async monitors workflow via queues, allowing developers to add extra tasks, extra callbacks, and manage failures with callbacks. As a result, Async is more versatile and reliable for managing complicated dependencies. 

Async js provides functions like ‘map’, ‘filter’, ‘reduce’, ‘parallel’, ‘series’, ‘waterfall’, and ‘each’.

Lodash

Lodash is a modern JavaScript library with many useful features. The popular Underscore.js utility library influenced Lodash. Built-in functions in Lodash make app development more efficient. 

With Lodash, developers can utilize a single line of code instead of writing a common function multiple times.

Also, Lodash makes Node js coding easier by taking the hassle out of working with common programing functions such as arrays, objects, numbers, strings, dates etc.

Cloudinary

If you’re looking for a way to manage the photos in your web application, Cloudinary is a great place to start. Cloudinary is a full-fledged cloud service with many useful features. 

From uploading visual content to resizing photographs and cropping options, Cloudinary has it all. Cloudinary is user-friendly enough so both new developers and experts can benefit from it. 

API allows developers to seamlessly incorporate Cloudinary into any project or application. However, they will need to sign up for a free account to try Cloudinary.

Cloudinary’s official website has all of the additional information about its use, setup, configuration, embedding, and more.

Axios

Axios is an HTTP client API framework that allows developers to make promises while making a request. Requests communicate with the server, and Axios responds with a promise as to whether your request was fulfilled or refused.

Among many developers, Axios is gaining a lot of traction, thanks to Axios-fetch, Axios-debug-log, Axios-mock-adapter, Axios-API-versioning, Axios-VCR, and other powerful third-party additions.

Axios can handle GET, POST, DELETE, and PUT requests.

Karma

Node js developers must test their applications to ensure they are stable, dependable, and perform well. This job requires a Karma package. 

Karma’s primary goal is to provide a productive testing environment to developers.

Molecular

Molecular is a Node js microservices library that is fast, modern, and powerful. Molecular helps Node js developers in creating efficient, dependable, and scalable applications.

Grunt

With a task runner, Grunt developers can reduce the number of tasks required to maintain a project, automate minifications, compile jobs, testing, code linting, and other duties. 

PM2

For most Node js users, process management is a top concern. 

PM2 includes process management for production applications and a load balancer to assist with performance adjustments. 

PM2 allows developers to keep their applications online indefinitely. This step allows developers to reload applications without experiencing any downtime. 

Mocha

Mocha is a feature-rich JS test framework that runs on Node js and the browser, making asynchronous testing simple and enjoyable. 

Mocha tests are executed sequentially, allowing flexible and precise reporting while mapping uncaught exceptions to the appropriate test cases.

Open-source frameworks help developers improve their skills in delivering professional applications that are lightweight and reliable. Therefore, knowing these NPM packages is a must for developers. 

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