# Setting up a nodejs developer environment *Originally published on *[*Hacker Culture*](https://hackerculture.xyz). In a previous episode, we set up [Python for development like a Boss](https://hackerculture.xyz/archive/python-setup/). In this one, I’ll show you how to set up your local machine for **nodejs** development so you can get started with node today. Let’s go! Requirements ------------ * Ubuntu 20.x / WSL * Internet connection nvm (node version manager) -------------------------- Similar to **Pyenv** for python, **nvm** is a program that allows us to manage multiple versions of **node** and makes switching between versions in different projects as seamless as it can be. Let's install **nvm** following [their instructions on Github](https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm#installing-and-updating). Make sure you check Github to install the latest version if you're reading this from the future! Open up your terminal and run this command to install **nvm**. curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.38.0/install.sh | bash This will download **nvm**, install it locally, and add some lines to your `.bashrc` (or `.zshrc`) and will tell you something like "restart your terminal to apply". So let's restart the terminal. To verify that **nvm** is installed correctly, run this command -v nvm You should see that it prints `nvm` if it's working. If not, follow the [troubleshooting guide](https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm#troubleshooting-on-linux). Now, we can install **nodejs** using **nvm**. Let's get the latest version by running: nvm install node # "node" is an alias for the latest version You should see some output ending like this ... Now using node v16.1.0 (npm v7.11.2) Creating default alias: default -> node (-> v16.1.0) Installing other versions ------------------------- The whole point of using **nvm** is that we can manage multiple versions of node. This is important because you might have some apps that require a specific version, while you can also test new features when a new version is released without messing with the previous versions required for other projects. In the previous step, we downloaded the latest version of node but it's recommended to stick with the **Long Term Support** versions for stability and long-term updates. This is what you want for apps you plan to maintain for a long time. nvm install --lts This installed `v14.17.0` for me today. Since this is the latest LTS version, I will also go ahead and tell my system to default to using this for every new shell. nvm alias default 14 # default -> 14 (-> v14.17.0) If I now run `nvm ls`, it will show me all my installed versions along with other available versions. Now, my system is set up to use the **LTS** version that I just installed, but for newer projects where I'd like to try more recent features added to **nodejs**, I want to use the latest version available. We can achieve this by creating a `.nvmrc` file in the project root directory (_or any parent directory_) to tell **nvm** which version it should use for this particular project. mkdir ~/src/nodeproj cd ~/src/nodeproj echo "node" > .nvmrc # to default to the latest version Now if I just run `nvm use`, it'll look for that `.nvmrc` and switch to whatever it says in there that it should use. If you'd like, you can also set up **nvm** to automatically switch versions based on the local `.nvmrc` file (without having to enter `nvm use` manually). To do that, follow [the official guide here](https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm#deeper-shell-integration). Bonus: yarn package manager --------------------------- We are now done with the node part. That was easy, right? But node wouldn't be what it is without its robust ecosystem of packages. The node maintainers support the official [npm](https://www.npmjs.com/) package manager which ships with every version of node. However, more recently [Facebook introduced yarn](https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/11/facebook-partners-with-google-others-to-launch-a-new-javascript-package-manager/) to optimize package resolution, offline support, and reproducible builds. And it's very fast! On average, about **4x faster than npm**. To use **yarn**, you just need to run one command to install it via **npm** (oh the irony...) npm install -g yarn You can use **yarn** to install packages just like you would use npm. There are only minor differences in the syntax of the commands like `yarn add` as opposed to `npm install` and a few others. To help you get used to it, here's a handy **yarn** cheatsheet for ya! [ Yarn cheatsheet The one-page guide to Yarn: usage, examples, links, snippets, and more. ![Setting up a nodejs developer environment](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1667688681784/gI_NS0J4u.png)Devhints.io cheatsheets ![Setting up a nodejs developer environment](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1667688683065/WnME8L1vTb.jpeg) ](https://devhints.io/yarn) And that's all you need to start playing with **nodejs** today. Go write some code! * * * _Have other nodejs tips for getting started? Please let us know in the comments below!_