March 2018 | thisDaveJ

Install and Upgrade Node.js on Windows the Easy Way

It’s easy to install and upgrade Node.js on the Raspberry Pi as explained in my guides on installing Node.js and upgrading Node.js on a Raspberry Pi. In fact, it’s easy on any Linux-based system. For Windows systems, however, the default installation routine of downloading and running MSI files from the Node.js website is not so streamlined. I was not keeping Node.js on my Windows systems up to date due to the activation energy required to do the installations. Today, however, everything changes. In this article, we will learn how to install and upgrade Node.js on Windows from the command line—and make the ongoing upgrade process as easy as double clicking Read More

Using TOML Config Files in Your Node.js Applications

In this article, we’ll learn how to use TOML, a rising star ⭐in the configuration file world, with Node.js. After reading this article, you will understand the TOML syntax including how to use it to model JavaScript objects in your Node applications. After recently finishing my tutorial on Using INI Files with Node.js, I stumbled across the TOML configuration file format when conducting some focused learning on Rust. It turns out that Cargo, Rust’s package manager, uses TOML for its Cargo.toml configuration file, which serves in a similar capacity to the package.json file used by npm with Node. I excitedly delved into TOML and to learn more, and emerged quite Read More

While I napped, we got a new apt – Debian apt command cheat sheet

I’m now awake, everyone! I must have been asleep (and perhaps you were too) since the Debian apt ecosystem now includes an “apt” binary that vastly improves the way we interact with the Debian package management ecosystem. You can now use the single apt executable instead of apt-get, apt-cache, etc. for many common use cases. These are groundbreaking changes for the better! My hope is that this post will accelerate your productivity whether you are using Ubuntu, Raspbian, or one of the many other other Linux distros based on Debian. Scenario: You want to install the cowsay package because you know that a Linux system is not complete without it. 🙂 Given this context, let’s get started using Read More