How should I set up a Node.js project?
Run npm init for package.json, add scripts for common commands, use .gitignore for node_modules and .env, use environment variables with dotenv, structure files by feature, separate config from code, and install nodemon for development.
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More FAQs in Best Practices for Node.js Project Setup
To standardize how the team runs the app. Add scripts like 'start' and 'dev', and run them with npm start or npm run dev. This means everyone runs the same commands, instead of each remembering long commands.
node_modules and .env at minimum. node_modules is large and reproducible from package.json, so never commit it. .env contains secrets, so never commit it either. Both cause real problems.
Yes, always. Install dotenv and create a .env file for configuration like database URLs and JWT secrets. Never hardcode secrets in code, since committing them to git exposes them.
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