n VS asdf

use n or nvm to manage installed node/npm versions.

I have node installed, via n

1 - n is a tool that allows you to easily switch between different versions of Node.js. Follow the official guide in case this does not work for you due to an update or need a command not highlighted below. Here's how you can use n to switch between Node.js versions:

Listing people's recommendations with links below. I'm glad I asked this question. I received a lot of good recommendations. Thanks All! * nvm (https://nvm.sh) - Simple to use and easy to follow instructions with more in-depth configuration for those that need it. Some experienced a slightly slower terminal. Supports nodjs, iojs, and node version per project/directory. * fnm (https://github.com/Schniz/fnm) - Built with speed in mind. It is like nvm, but faster. Also supports node version per project/directory. * Volta (https://volta.sh/) - Looks easy to use and has good documentation. * asdf (https://asdf-vm.com/) - Supports multiple runtimes and tools by adding plugins. Admittedly, is a bit confusing and more than I need right now (Node, Rust, Python, Ruby, etc.) * Homebrew (https://brew.sh/) - Not a version manager but can act like one by installing nvm, fnm, asdf, or others. Some additional configuration may be needed. * Proto (https://moonrepo.dev/proto) - Supports Bun, Deno, Node.js (npm, pnpm, yarn), Rust, and Go. Also good documentation. Setup looks a bit complex to me :/. * n (https://github.com/tj/n) - Supports Node and npm per project. Simple and to the point.

And there are virtual environment; kind of. I just actually started using this, but there's n.

Today, let's find out why you would need multiple versions of Node.js in the first place and how to manage them efficiently with n, a Node.js version manager that is very developer-friendly.

I used n. It was pretty good. I still hated every time I had to change versions and the idea of making dockers for this came with a friend. Thankfully, I don't have that.project anymore

https://github.com/tj/n to install node and manage versions

N package since I found it out. Happy for both local pc and servers.

Or if you need to manage more than just node, asdf has been around for over a decade and works great. You can use a .tool-versions to change runtimes for each project you have, in addition to managing your global runtime versions

https://asdf-vm.com/

Why not just use a tool like asdf (https://asdf-vm.com/) or mise (https://mise.jdx.dev/)?

These tools have the advantage of not being multi-taskers and can manage version for all your tools. You wouldn’t need pyenv and npm and rvm and…

We’ve even started committing the .mise.toml files for projects to our repos. That way, since we work on multiple projects that may need multiple versions of the same tool, it’s handled and documented.

The purpose of a version manager is to help you navigate or install any tools for development easily. Version Manager can be one tool for each dependency (e.g. NVM, g) or One tool for all dependencies (e.g. asdf, mise).

(asdf)[https://asdf-vm.com/] fully supports Python and almost any other language. I've been using it for Ruby, Python, Elixir, and other languages for years and never looked back.

Secondly, our development environments must not drift, because then code may behave differently and a change could pass on our machine but fail in production. There are many tools for locking down environments, e.g nix, pkgx, asdf, containers, etc., and they all share the common goal of being able to lock down dependencies for an environment accurately and deterministically. And that needs to be enforced in our local workflow so we don't have to rely on CI environments for correctness. All developers must have environments that are effectively identical to what runs in CI (which itself should be representative of the production environment).

There are many ways this can be done (e.g nix, pkgx, asdf, containers, etc.), and we won’t get into which specific tools to use, because we'll instead cover the essential essence of preventing environment drift:

I've really been enjoying asdf, which is a program that allows you to install specified versions of dev utilities as well as dynamically manage them via shims and .tool-versions files.

I use the asdf version manager.