Initial work on article outline

content/blog/how-to-use-npm/index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+---
+{
+    title: "WebDev 101: How to use npm and Yarn",
+    description: "",
+    published: '2021-10-13T22:12:03.284Z',
+    authors: ['crutchcorn'],
+    tags: ['rxjs', 'javascript'],
+    attached: [],
+    license: 'cc-by-4'
+}
+---
+
+If you're new to web development, it can be difficult to figure out when (and how) to use the package manager most commonly used to install app dependencies and utilities: `npm`. Likewise, if you've looked into projects that are already established, you may find yourself looking at instructions to use `yarn`.
+
+In this article, we'll outline how to use both `npm` and `yarn` to install dependencies for your project, point out some "gotcha's" that are good to keep in mind while using them, 
+
+
+
+# Installing
+
+## Installing Node
+
+You can find pre-build binaries ready-to-install from [NodeJS' website](). Simply download the package and install it. 
+
+Node installs come pre-packaged with their own version of `npm`. While 
+
+However, the process of upgrading and changing version of NodeJS can be difficult. This is why I (and many others) recommend using NVM to manage your Node versions.
+
+### NVM
+
+While Node has a fairly stable API (and their LTS releases are often supported for many years at a time), there may be instances where it's benificial to have the ability to quickly upgrade and change the currently installed Node versions.
+
+For example, some webdev projects only work on specific versions of Node, while other times specific JavaScript features are only available on new versions of Node.
+
+Both Windows, macOS, and Linux all have versions of a program called `nvm`, which allows you to change the installed version of node based on a single CLI command:
+
+```
+nvm use --lts
+```
+
+Additionally, you can (and, in order to use `nvm`, **must** use `nvm` to do so) install new versions of node using `nvm` . To do this, simply type:
+
+```
+nvm install --lts
+```
+
+#### Windows NVM
+
+It's worth noting that the Windows variant of `nvm` does not support the same commands as the macOS and Linux variants. As such, when you find instructions for `nvm` online, you may have to find the alternative versions of those commands for the Windows version
+
+For example, the previously mentioned `lts` command does not work on Windows. Instead, you'll have to lookup the newest LTS release of Node (from their website) and install it as such:
+
+```
+nvm install 12.16.3
+```
+
+Then, simply declare it as your main version of node:
+
+```
+nvm use 12.16.3
+```
+
+### Upgrading NPM
+
+The default version of `npm` is typically good enough for 99.99% of use-cases. Like any other software, however, bug fixes and features are added to new versions of `npm`. You can follow [the official `npm` blog]() to read about new features and bug fixes the versions introduce.
+
+Ironically enough, the method of upgrading `npm` is by using `npm` itself:
+
+```
+npm i -g npm@latest
+```
+
+> Keep in mind that if you switch Node versions using `nvm`, you will need to re-run this command on every version of installed Node, as switching Node also swiches the installed version of `npm`.
+
+## Installing Yarn
+
+Once you have node and npm installed, installing yarn is as simple as:
+
+```
+npm i -g yarn
+```
+
+### Homebrew
+
+If you're using macOS and want to utilize `nvm`, you can also use Homebrew (a third party package manager for Macs)
+
+# Using Node
+
+```
+node
+```
+
+
+
+
+
+# Using NPM/Yarn
+
+```
+npm init
+```
+
+## `package-lock.json`
+
+
+
+## Ignoring `node_modules`
+