Node-gyp - Shell-Bash

Node-gyp is a powerful tool that allows you to compile native addon modules for Node.js. It is particularly useful when you need to install or use Node.js packages that rely on C/C++ code.

Node-gyp works by providing a command-line interface (CLI) tool called node-gyp. This tool simplifies the process of building and installing native modules by utilizing the platform's native build system (e.g., Visual Studio on Windows or make/gcc on Unix-like platforms).

Getting Started

To use Node-gyp, you need to have Node.js installed on your system. Node-gyp is included with Node.js by default, so no additional installation is required.

Once you have Node.js installed, you can use the node-gyp command-line tool to manage your native addon modules. The most common use case is building and installing modules, but Node-gyp offers many other functionalities as well.

# Check if Node-gyp is installed
node-gyp -v

# Initialize the build system
node-gyp configure

# Build the native addon module
node-gyp build

# Clean the build files
node-gyp clean

Project Structure

When using Node-gyp, you typically work with a project directory that contains the native code you want to compile. The project directory should include a binding.gyp file specifying the build options and dependencies for your addon module.

Here's a typical project structure:

/your-project
├── binding.gyp
├── src
│   ├── addon.cc
│   └── addon.h
└── package.json

The binding.gyp file is a JSON-like file that defines build configurations and build targets for the native module. It specifies the source files, libraries, include directories, and other options needed to build the module correctly.

Resources

• Node-gyp GitHub Repository
• Node-gyp Documentation
• Node-gyp Examples

Node-gyp is widely used in the Node.js ecosystem and is a valuable tool for any developer working with native addon modules. It simplifies the process of building and installing these modules, making it easier to use packages that rely on native code in your Node.js projects.