dev-env-status-check

Check the availability of common Node development environment dependencies like node, npm, git, and others.

About

When helping a new programmer set up their computer for the first time it can be difficult to debug their system.

This module intends to be a high-level approach to checking which dependencies are correctly set up on a computer.

It's written with node, which may seem a little silly (what if they don't have node yet?!), but the intent is to use this inside Electron apps.

The first electron app to use this module is dev-env-status, a simple app that shows the availability of each tool and how to install it if needed.

Work in progress

There are still some improvements that need to be made before ready for use. Contributions are welcome.

Planned improvements (PRs welcome!)

This module needs to be tested and adapted for use on both linux and windows.

There are ways this module can be smarter about detecting system dependencies. For example: what if a macOS user doesn't have gcc yet?

For now this only checks node, npm, and git. It would be cool to accept arbitrary commands.

Check out the dev-env-status repo for additional improvements.

Command-line tools that are checked:

• node
• npm
• git

Each tool returns an object with:

• exists – boolean
• path – absolute path for the command
• version – version of the command

Operating system information

You're also provided information about the computer's operating system:

• arch – return value of os.arch()
• platform – return value of os.platform()
• release – return value of os.release()
• name – macOS Sierra for example

Install

npm install --save dev-env-status-check

Usage

var check = require('dev-env-status-check')
 
var stream = check()
 
stream.on('data', function (data) {
  if (data.type === 'os') {
    console.log('operating system info:', data)
  } else {
    console.log('status of ' + data.command + ':', data)
  }
})

Each data event returns an object with information about the computer.

If the object has a type property of os, it contains information about the operating system:

{
  type: 'os',
  arch: 'x64',
  platform: 'darwin',
  release: '16.1.0',
  name: 'macOS Sierra'
}

If the object has a type property of command, it contains information about one of the commands. For example:

{
  type: 'command',
  command: 'node',
  exists: true,
  path: '/Users/sdv/.nvm/versions/node/v6.9.1/bin/node',
  version: '6.9.1'
}

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read the contributing guidelines first.

Conduct

It is important that this project contributes to a friendly, safe, and welcoming environment for all. Read this project's code of conduct

Changelog

Read about the changes to this project in CHANGELOG.md. The format is based on Keep a Changelog and this project adheres to Semantic Versioning.

Contact

• issues – Please open issues in the issues queue
• twitter – Have a question? @sethdvincent
• email – Need in-depth support via paid contract? Send an email to [e-mail]

License

ISC