virtualize-node

Utility package to assist in installing and using node local to a specific project, kind of like a python 'virtual environment', but for node.

Getting Started

Add virtualize-node to your project

This package is intended to be added to an existing project that will/does utilize node (likely as one of the first things you do when setting up the project).

Adding as a git submodule to your project's repo (recommended)

It is likely best to add virtualize-node as git submodule.

NOTE: Using git submodules is a little controversial, so please checkout the Why install this package as a git submodule to make sure the potential 'gotchas' don't worry you. If they do, simply download the contents of this repo and add it to your project's folder structure -- see below for help.

Using SSH

git submodule add git@github.com:mitmedialab/virtualize-node.git 

Using HTTPS

git submodule add https://github.com/mitmedialab/virtualize-node.git

Commit and push the addition of virtualize-node to your project

git add .gitmodules virtualize-node
git commit -m "Added virtualize-node package as a git submodule to my project"
git push

Adding this as a directory in your project's folder structure (no git)

Click here to download a zip of this project.

Drag it into your project and unzip it.

Using your virtualize-node

Once you have a copy of virtualize-node in your project, run the following command to utilize it:

source virtualize-node/activate.bash

Create a './activate' at your project's root (recommended)

If you get down with the motivation behind this package, you might adopt other 'local' installs to help ensure a project can be completely self-contained (e.g. virtual python environments; heck, maybe even a docker image -- the latter might also obsolete this package, though...).

If so, having a single activate file that coordinates all of your project's setup activities could be very helpful.

For example, if you are using (1) python virutal environments and (2) this package to have a local node install, you might have a file that looks like the following at the root of your project:

# inside of <your project directory>/activate

# activate python virtual environment 
source ./python/bin/activate

# activate local node version
source ./virtualize-node/activate

You can then advise your fellow developers to always source ./activate as soon as they cd into your project.

Why install node locally?

... work in progress ...

But won't this 'waste' space?

... work in progress ...

Why install this package as a git submodule?

... work in progress ...