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Using npm as a Task Runner

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Creating a Built in Task

2:35 with Andrew Chalkley

npm has a number of built in tasks. One example is test. In this video we'll take a look at how to set up npm to run our tests.

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    There are a number of built-in tasks that npm can run for you. 0:00
    The most common is test. 0:04
    You're often encouraged to install test frameworks and 0:07
    build systems globally with the -g flag. 0:10
    But that can be a little overkill if you're working on different projects with 0:14
    potentially different versions. 0:17
    Let's install our depth dependences now by running npm install. 0:20
    The install command installs all npm modules that are part of your project. 0:32
    In other words, third party modules that your project depends on. 0:38
    But it also installs development dependencies, 0:42
    that is, modules that you use during development. 0:45
    Such modules that can compile Sass, combine multiple JavaScript files, 0:48
    or to test your code to make sure it works. 0:54
    In this example, I've installed the JavaScript testing framework Mocha for 0:59
    testing my JavaScript. 1:03
    How do you run Mocha here? 1:06
    In your node_modules folder, there's a hidden directory, .bin. 1:08
    And in there, there are command line executables like Mocha. 1:15
    So you can type, node_modules/.bin/mocha. 1:20
    And it runs. 1:26
    However, you can run executables from npm without typing in this long command. 1:28
    Let's update the test task in our scripts object with the Mocha command. 1:35
    This will run any Mocha test in the project. 1:50
    What we’ve done here is created a test task. 1:54
    Now you can run it by typing npm run test. 1:58
    Npm can run any binary or command line application. 2:08
    See how much easier this is? 2:12
    Now that we don’t need to remember or type that full path in to Mocha. 2:14
    We can make it even easier by ditching run. 2:20
    Because test is a built-in task, you can leave out the run, 2:23
    and simply type npm test. 2:28

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