Question 1

What is the difference between dependencies and devDependencies?

Accepted Answer

dependencies are required to run your application in production. devDependencies are only needed during development (testing, building, linting). When deploying, you can skip devDependencies with npm install --production.

Question 2

Should I use type: module or type: commonjs?

Accepted Answer

Use type module for ESM (import/export syntax) - recommended for new projects. Use type commonjs for traditional Node.js (require/module.exports). ESM is the modern standard with better tree-shaking and static analysis.

Question 3

What version ranges should I use: ^, ~, or exact?

Accepted Answer

^ (caret) allows minor and patch updates: ^1.2.3 matches 1.x.x. ~ (tilde) allows only patch updates: ~1.2.3 matches 1.2.x. Exact versions (1.2.3) never auto-update. Use ^ for most packages, exact versions for critical dependencies.

Question 4

What are common npm scripts I should include?

Accepted Answer

Essential scripts: dev (development server), build (production build), start (run production), test (run tests), lint (run linter). Also consider: typecheck, format, preview, db:migrate for database projects.

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