Let's start with explaining what NPM is: a type of JavaScript node package, a default process to manage Node.js.
Here is a list of 10 of my most used NPM packages in 2020 in no particular order:
And I thought I’d also add a little reasoning behind my choices:
Got & Ky
They’re both pretty much the same thing; HTTP request libraries. But Got is meant for use on the server, while Ky is for the browser. They’re made by the same people, and their API’s are very similar. These are currently our go-to HTTP request libraries here at AppSaloon.
Express
While pretty old by now, express still does its job pretty well as a web framework. We’re pretty satisfied with express and probably aren’t going to be replacing it in the foreseeable future.
React-scripts & react
Most of our front-end projects are bootstrapped with create-React-app, which installs these two for us. And while I don’t directly install React-scripts myself, it does have a big (read positive) impact on development.
Prop-types
Prop-types allows me to describe what properties are expected by a react component. Which makes it much easier to reuse existing components without having to look through its code to understand which properties are consumed. This is even more true when working on projects I haven’t touched in a while.
ESlint
Code linting and style standardisation across the team!
We use JavaScript Standard Style (standard) to keep our code style consistent across all of our projects, no matter who writes the code.
Universal-router & History
As far as I know, I’m the only one on the team that uses these two. A more common alternative to routing in React is React-router. But that one feels all wrong to me, it just doesn’t handle routing the way I’m used to or comfortable with. Universal-router on the other hand does routing just the way I like it. And it doesn’t care if you use it client-side or server-side, it’s just a router.
I added history as well because it’s the library I use to manage the browser session.
And yes, I know history is made by the same people who made React-router, that’s irrelevant.
Node-sass
I find writing CSS much easier in SCSS or Sass syntax rather than regular CCSS. I use SCSS syntax myself.
And there you have it.
Thanks for stopping by!
