dependency-management

Key Points on Dependency Management in TypeScript:

• Understanding package.json:

  The package.json file is crucial for managing your project's dependencies. It lists all the libraries your project depends on and their versions.

• Semantic Versioning:

  Familiarize yourself with semantic versioning (semver). It's a convention used to manage versions of your dependencies, denoted as MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH.

• Locking Dependencies:

  Use package-lock.json or yarn.lock to lock your dependencies. These files ensure that your project uses consistent versions of dependencies across different environments.

• node_modules:

  The node_modules directory is where all the dependencies are stored. Understanding its structure can help you debug issues related to dependency resolution.

• Dependency Categories:

  Know the difference between dependencies (needed at runtime) and devDependencies (needed for development, like TypeScript itself, types, linters, etc.).

• Peer Dependencies:

  Understand peer dependencies, which are a set of dependencies a package needs to work but does not install by itself.

• TypeScript Definitions:

  Some JavaScript libraries need additional type definitions to work with TypeScript. These can usually be found in the @types/ namespace and installed from npm.

• Avoiding Global Packages:

  Prefer local installation of packages over global to avoid version conflicts between projects. Use npx to run locally installed tools.

• Using Module Resolutions:

  In your tsconfig.json, you can control how TypeScript resolves modules. This can be important for aliasing and structuring larger projects.

• Handling @types:

  When installing third-party libraries, also look for accompanying @types packages to include TypeScript definitions for better development experience.

• Scopes and Namespaces:

  Understand npm scopes and namespaces, which allow you to group related packages together and help manage permissions for publishing.

• Environment Variables:

  Use environment variables to manage environment-specific configurations without changing the codebase.

• Upgrading Dependencies:

  Regularly upgrade your dependencies to receive bug fixes, security patches, and new features. Tools like npm-check-updates can help automate this process.

• Isolating Dependencies:

  For critical applications, consider vendoring dependencies to isolate your project from upstream changes that could break your build.

• Security Audits:

  Regularly run npm audit or use third-party tools to check your dependencies for known security vulnerabilities.

• Package Managers:

  Be familiar with different package managers like npm, yarn, or pnpm, and understand their differences, particularly around performance and how they handle node_modules.