npm (short for "Node Package Manager") is a package manager for the JavaScript programming language. It is the default package manager for the JavaScript runtime environment Node.js.
npm is used to manage packages (libraries, tools, and frameworks) that are used in Node.js applications. It helps developers to easily share, reuse, and maintain code, and to automate the process of installing, updating, and managing packages.
npm consists of a command-line interface (CLI) and a registry of published packages. To use npm, you need to have Node.js installed on your computer.
Here are a few common npm tasks:
- Installing packages: To install a package from the npm registry, you can use the
npm install
command. For example, to install the "lodash" package, you would typenpm install lodash
. This will download the package and add it to your project'snode_modules
directory. - Updating packages: To update a package to the latest version, you can use the
npm update
command. For example, to update the "lodash" package, you would typenpm update lodash
. - Uninstalling packages: To uninstall a package, you can use the
npm uninstall
command. For example, to uninstall the "lodash" package, you would typenpm uninstall lodash
.
I hope this helps to give you an understanding of what npm is and how it is used! Let me know if you have any questions or need further assistance.