Package dependencies

Date 21/10/2014

Due to the rapid cycle of development and changes in the third party modules that are used in a given project, someone should look after those dependencies being up to date. Free services for monitoring those third party modules, such as David, Gemnasium and VersionEye offer email notifications and project badges to be used in README.md files, so that project developers and other could see the dependency state, them being outdated or not.

All of the above mentioned services can be used for free and registration can be done with the GitHub account. There are several other similar services, but they might not support npm specific dependencies.

Tasks for the day

  1. Add dependency version monitoring to your hello-node-js repository

    • You should have at least moment marked as a dependency in the package.json from earlier tasks

    • Add the badge displaying the current status in the top area of README.md file

  2. Find an open source project which is using dependencies from npm

    • Create an issue to that project which requests adding one of those dependency monitoring services

    • The issue should be helpful enough so that the project owner can easily take such service in use

    • Assume that the project owner has no knowledge of these services and be kind

    • Link the issue to the list below

  3. Write a note about the differences in version requirement syntax used in package.json

    • The text should be in the README.md of your hello-node-js, under a section called "Version selector madness"

  4. Optional: Create a graphical presentation of the hello-node-js dependency map

    • Save it as an image, save it in the repository and display in README.md

Dependency monitoring issues

Links related to the lecture subject

PreviousAutomation and continuous integrationNextFront end third party dependencies and Code coverage

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