Node.js Overview

What is Node.js?

Node.js is a JavaScript runtime environment based on the Chrome V8 engine, used to build high-performance network applications. It adopts an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model, making it lightweight and efficient.

Main Features

• 🚀 Cross-platform: Supports Windows, macOS, and Linux
• ⚡ High Performance: V8 engine + async I/O
• 📦 npm Ecosystem: The world's largest open-source library ecosystem
• 🔄 Full Stack Development: Unified JavaScript for frontend and backend

Application Scenarios

• Web server development
• RESTful API services
• Real-time applications (e.g., chat rooms)
• Command-line tools
• Microservice architecture

Install Node.js

Windows/macOS

1. Visit the official website: Download NodeJS
2. Choose the LTS (Long Term Support) version to download
3. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete installation

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

# Install using NodeSource
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_lts.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

Verify Installation

After installation, you can check the Node.js version with the following commands

node -v
npm -v

npm Package Management

Common commands

Command	Description
npm init	Initialize project
npm install <package>	Install package
npm install -g <package>	Install package globally
npm uninstall <package>	Uninstall package
npm update <package>	Update package
npm list	List all packages
npm run <script>	Run script in package.json

Install pnpm Globally

1. Install pnpm

npm install -g pnpm

2. Set mirror source

pnpm config set registry https://registry.npmmirror.com

Version Management (Recommended)

NVM (Node Version Manager)

What is NVM?

NVM is a Node.js version management tool that allows you to install and switch between multiple Node.js versions on the same machine.

Core Features

• ✅ Install multiple Node.js versions in parallel
• 🔄 Quickly switch versions (global/project level)
• 🧹 Cleanly uninstall unnecessary versions
• 🌐 Supports Windows/macOS/Linux

Application Scenarios

• Test compatibility with different Node.js versions
• Maintain multiple projects using different Node versions
• Safely upgrade/downgrade Node versions

Windows Installation

macOS/Linux Installation

# Use the install script (recommended)
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.5/install.sh | bash

# Or use Homebrew (macOS)
brew install nvm

NVM Basic Usage

View available versions

nvm ls-remote        # View all remote versions
nvm ls               # View locally installed versions

Install specific version

nvm install 20       # Install latest v20.x
nvm install 16.14.0  # Install specific version

Switch version

nvm use 20           # Temporarily switch
nvm alias default 20 # Set default version

Other common commands

nvm current          # View current version
nvm run 14 app.js    # Run script with specified version
nvm uninstall 12     # Uninstall specified version

Contributors

nuyoah

Changelog

Last edited 5 months ago

View full history

b4eb45c-docs(en): Add a trailing blank line

5001b34-docs(en): Add Node.js Getting Started Guide