Node and global vs local?

Question

Something I spotted today on booting a node script on the Edison (if not using XDK)

Run a Script on Edison Boot | Shawn Hymel

The point of interest for me is the line:

Environment="NODE_PATH=/usr/lib/node_modules/"

I'm guessing that this stores the node modules in the lib folders as previously when I've used NPM to install node packages I've spotted it has been putting them under /home.

It looks like we can set this using:

export NODE_PATH=/usr/lib/node_modules:$NODE_PATH

There also seems to be an "npm -g" option but others seem to recommend against this.

No Need for npm -g | Peter Lyons

Any thoughts or recommendations on best practice for the Edison?

jasonwier92 · Answer

I do not install global unless it is required or if it is something that I would use globally.

Items to install globally (some exclusions for a small single board computer like the Edison).

Express if this is on a server doing several web projects
- Yes for the Express CLI

- Assuming they are all using the same version of Express
- Not for the Edison or Raspberry Pi
- Not for development, unless you are forcing express in each project to be the same
Node-red-admin - has to be install globally, or so it says
pm2 - This would be needed globally

Otherwise I am a big fan of installing local to a project. Global installs are bad when I am running moduleA-1.2.3 globally and need to use moduleA-2.1.0 for a feature, so I update globally and it breaks three other projects. Isolation is good for dependent modules.