10 NPM packages to accelerate your code journey in 2023 🔥

Are you feeling overwhelmed with the amount of work you have to do every day? You’re not alone!

We all have a million and one things to do, and often it can seem impossible to get it all done.

10 NPM packages to accelerate your code journey in 2023

Fortunately, npm packages can be a lifesaver. From automating mundane tasks to helping you manage and optimize code, there are a wide variety of npm packages that can make your life easier. In this article, we’ll be exploring 10 of the best npm packages that can help you streamline and simplify your workflow. Let’s get started!

Async

Async is a powerful npm library that makes it easy to work with asynchronous JavaScript. It provides a standard way to write asynchronous code, making it easier to read, maintain, and debug. Async is particularly useful when dealing with multiple callbacks, Promises, and stream operations.

Including Async in your Node.js project is as simple as installing it with npm. Open a terminal and run `npm install async`. After installation, you can include it in your JavaScript application by adding `require(‘async’)` at the top of your JavaScript file.

Async can be used to simplify callbacks, promises, and stream operations. As a simple example, let’s say we have an array of asynchronous functions that need to be executed in order. We can use Async’s `series` method to ensure that the functions are called in order.

const async = require('async');
const funcs = [
    () => {
        console.log('First function');
    },
    (callback) => {
        setTimeout(() => {
            console.log('Second function');
            callback();
        }, 1000);
    },
    () => {
        console.log('Third function');
    },
];
async.series(funcs);

The code above will execute all three functions in order, with a one-second delay between the first and second functions. Async can also be used to simplify promises and stream operations, such as reading and writing files.

Async is a powerful npm package that makes it easy to write asynchronous JavaScript. It’s a great tool for simplifying callbacks, promises, and stream operations, making your code easier to read and maintain.

PM2

PM2 is a popular npm package that enables you to manage and monitor Node.js applications. It allows you to keep applications alive forever, reload them without downtime, and facilitates common system administration tasks such as logging and monitoring. It provides a powerful CLI and a built-in dashboard with real-time metrics on your application’s performance.

To get started with PM2, you must first install it using npm:

npm install pm2 -g

Once installed, you can start managing Node.js applications with PM2. To start an application, use the `pm2 start` command.

For example, to start a JavaScript file called “app.js”:

pm2 start app.js

Once your application is running, you can manage it with PM2. You can list all applications with the

pm2 list

command, view application logs with the

pm2 logs

command, and get real-time metrics on your application’s performance with the

pm2 monit

command.

PM2 is a powerful and easy-to-use npm package for managing and monitoring node.js applications. With its powerful CLI, you can easily keep your applications alive forever and receive real-time metrics on the performance of your applications.

Minify

Minifying your code is an essential part of web development. It involves eliminating unnecessary characters, such as white spaces, line breaks, and comments, without altering the functionality of the code. By doing this, you can reduce the amount of data that is transferred when users access your website or application, which can improve its loading speed and performance.

For that reason, npm offers a package called “minify” to help you quickly and easily reduce the size of your JavaScript, CSS, HTML, and other text-based files. The package can be installed using the command-line tool npm or Yarn.

To install minify using npm, type the following command in your terminal:

npm install minify

Once installed, you can minify your JavaScript, CSS, and HTML files by running one of the following commands:

// Minify a single file
npx minify index.js

// Minify multiple files
npx minify index.js app.js

// Minify a directory
npx minify directory/

// Minify a file and output to a specific file
npx minify index.js - output index.min.js

You can also use the minify package in a Node.js application. To do this, you will need to require the package in your JavaScript file like this:

const minify = require('minify');

Now you can minify files using the minify.minify() method. For example, to minify a JavaScript file, you can do this:

minify.minify('./index.js').then(output => {
    // output contains the minified version
});

Minify is a useful package that can reduce the size of your JavaScript, CSS, HTML, and other text-based files, which can improve the loading speed and performance of your website or application.

Loadtest

Loadtest is a great npm package for running stress tests on web applications. It allows you to monitor the performance of your web application by simulating web requests and measuring response times under varying levels of load. This can help you identify any potential bottlenecks and make changes to improve the performance of your application. You can also use Loadtest to measure the scalability of your web application, allowing you to make sure that it can handle increased traffic or usage.

To get started with Loadtest, first install it using npm:

npm install loadtest

Then, create a JavaScript file that will contain your specific test configuration (e.g. number of requests and request rate).

For example:

// loadtest-filename.js
const loadtest = require('loadtest');
const options = {
    url: 'https://example.com',
    concurrency: 10,
    maxRequests: 1000
};
loadtest.loadTest(options, function(error, result) {
    if (error) {
        return console.error('Got an error: %s', error);
    }
    console.log('Tests run successfully');
});

Once you have your Loadtest configuration set up, you can run it using the following command:

node loadtest-filename.js

That’s it! Loadtest is a great tool for running stress tests on web applications. With it, you can easily measure the performance, scalability, and stability of your web applications and make sure they can handle increased usage.

Morgan

Morgan is a popular npm package that makes it easier to log requests and responses in Node.js web applications. It is designed to be simple and powerful and helps you quickly debug and analyze web requests.

Installing and using Morgan is easy. All you need to do is install the package with npm:

npm install morgan

Once installed, you can then configure Morgan to work with your Node.js application.

For example, you can specify the format that Morgan should use when logging requests and responses:

var morgan = require('morgan');
app.use(morgan('combined'));

In this example, Morgan will log requests in the “combined” format, which includes the IP address, method, URL, HTTP status code, and length of the request. To use a different format, you can simply change the string that is passed to the morgan() function.

Using Morgan is a great way to quickly debug and analyze your Node.js applications. It provides detailed logs that can help you identify issues and improve performance.

Additionally, Morgan can be used to track user activity and can be used as an access control mechanism.

Dayjs

Dayjs is a JavaScript library for manipulating dates and times. It is a lightweight, minimalist alternative to Moment.js. It allows developers to work with dates and times more efficiently, with a much smaller footprint than Moment.js. Dayjs is a great choice for developers who need to handle dates and times in the most efficient manner possible.

Dayjs is an npm package that can be installed via the command line:

npm install dayjs - save

Once installed, you can import Dayjs into your project like so:

import dayjs from 'dayjs';

Using Dayjs, you can do things like parse dates, format dates, query dates and more. For example, you can parse a string into a date object like so:

const date = dayjs('2020–04–01');

You can also compare two dates using Dayjs:

const date1 = dayjs('2020–04–01');
const date2 = dayjs('2020–04–02');
const isAfter = date1.isAfter(date2); // false
const isBefore = date1.isBefore(date2); // true

Dayjs makes it easy to manipulate dates and times in your project. The lightweight codebase makes it a great choice for developers who want to keep their codebase small and efficient.

Helmet

Helmet is an npm package that can help make your life easier when developing with Node.js and Javascript. It is designed to secure your applications by setting various HTTP headers to protect your app from potential security vulnerabilities. It is easy to install and use, and makes your Node.js applications more secure.

To install Helmet, you can use npm by typing the following command into the terminal:

npm install helmet

Including the Helmet module in your Node.js application is easy too. All you need to do is add the following line of code:

var helmet = require('helmet');

Helmet can be used to set various HTTP headers, such as the X-XSS-Protection header which prevents cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks. You can also set the Strict-Transport-Security header which ensures that your application is only accessed over a secure HTTPS connection.

To set the X-XSS-Protection header, you can use the following code:

app.use(helmet.xssFilter());

Similarly, to set the Strict-Transport-Security header, you can use the following code:

app.use(helmet.hsts());

Helmet is a great way to secure your applications and make your life easier when developing with Node.js and Javascript. It is easy to install and use, and can help protect your applications from potential security vulnerabilities.

Winston

A logger for just about everything.

Winston is an incredibly popular npm package used by thousands of developers to improve the logging capabilities of their Node.js applications. It allows you to create custom logging formats and transport messages to a variety of destinations, from console logs to files, databases, and more. It also supports logging levels, so you can filter out messages that aren’t important for debugging.

Installing Winston is simple — just use npm:

npm install winston

Once installed, you can start using it in your Javascript files. Here’s an example of how to use Winston to log errors:

const winston = require('winston');
winston.add(new winston.transports.File({ filename: 'errors.log' }));
winston.error('Something went wrong!');

The code above will create a log file called “errors.log”, and write the message “Something went wrong!” to it. You can also use Winston to log messages at different levels, like “info” and “debug”.

If you’re looking for an easy way to enhance the logging capabilities of your Node.js applications, make sure to check out Winston! It’s a great npm package that provides powerful logging features and can make your life easier.

JOI

Object schema validation

JOI is an npm package that can be used to validate and ensure data is valid before it’s used in Node.js applications. It can be used to validate user input, server responses and objects.

Installing JOI is as easy as running the command below in your terminal:

npm install joi

Once installed, JOI can be imported into a Node.js application. This can be done with the following code:

const Joi = require("joi");

After JOI is imported, it can be used to validate data. To validate an object, you need to specify the type and rules for each field in the object. This can be done using the following code:

const schema = Joi.object({
    username: Joi.string().alphanum().min(3).max(30).required(),
    email: Joi.string().email().required(),
    password: Joi.string().pattern(/^[a-zA-Z0–9]{3,30}$/),
});

The code above defines a schema for a user object with three fields: username, email and password. After the schema is defined, it can be used to validate an object against the schema. This can be done with the following code:

const user = {
    username: 'user123',
    email: 'user123@example.com',
    password: 'password123'
};
const result = schema.validate(user);

The code above validates the user object against the previously defined schema and returns a result object with the validation details. Once the validation is complete, you can use the result to determine if the data is valid and proceed accordingly with your application logic.

Node-Cache

Simple and fast NodeJS internal caching. Node internal in memory cache like memcached.

Node-cache is an npm package that makes caching in Node.js fast and simple. It allows you to store key-value pairs in memory, making it an ideal tool for storing data that needs to be accessed quickly. Node-Cache is a popular package on npm, and it is easy to install and use.

To get started with Node-Cache, you’ll need to install it using npm. You can do this with the following command:

npm install node-cache

Once the package is installed, you can start using it in your Node.js code. To store a value in the cache, simply use the following code:

var NodeCache = require("node-cache");
var myCache = new NodeCache();
myCache.set("key", "value", function(err, success) {
    if (!err && success) {
        console.log(success);
    }
});

To retrieve a value from the cache, use the following code:

myCache.get("key", function(err, value) {
    if (!err) {
        if (value == undefined) {
            // key not found
        } else {
            console.log(value);
        }
    }
});

Node-Cache is a great tool for caching data in Node.js and making your application faster. With just a few lines of code, you can easily cache data and improve the performance of your application. Give Node-Cache a try and see how it can make your life easier.

Conclusion

Npm packages are a great way to make your life easier and more efficient. From the asynchronous programming of Async to the performance monitoring of PM2, npm packages can help you get the most out of your development projects. Minify can help you reduce your file sizes for faster loading times, while Loadtest can help you test your applications for performance. Morgan, Dayjs, Helmet, Winston, JOI, and Node-Cache are all great packages that can help you streamline your development process and make it easier to manage. With the right npm packages, you can save time, money, and effort while developing applications.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog post about nodejs. I hope you found it informative and useful for your own projects. If you want to learn more about nodejs or connect with me to discuss related topics, please feel free to visit my linked profile. You can find more articles and resources there, as well as reach out to me directly with any questions or feedback.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinesh-rawat/

Thank you again for your support and interest in this exciting technology!