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What version of Node do you currently use? Right now I am using the latest iteration of Node 18, mainly for compatibility reasons. I am thinking about switching over to Node 20 or Node 22...Is it worth switching over?
I've found this page to be the most helpful list of all major/minor/patch changes:
https://nodejs.org/en/blog/release/
example: https://nodejs.org/en/blog/release/v16.0.0/
Another good resource to find changes to all the different major versions, is the changelog archive on nodejs' github:
https://github.com/nodejs/node/tree/main/doc/changelogs
Ubuntu Linux/Mac
The module n makes version-management easy:
sudo npm install n -g
For the latest stable version:
n stable
For the latest version:
n latest
Debian 10
Upgrade older versions of node and npm on Debian 10 as follows:
sudo su -c 'curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_18.x | bash -'
sudo apt-get install nodejs -y
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo npm install -g [email protected]
node --version
npm --version
Note: Replace setup_18 with the latest long-term support release.
Windows
Just reinstall node from the .msi in Windows from the node website.
All Platforms (Mac, Linux & Windows) 2024
If you just need to upgrade your old version of Node.js to the latest one and don't need multiple versions, simply over-write your existing executable with the new one.
Download the Latest Node.js from nodejs.org/en/download
This Just Works! TM on all platforms and is the easiest/fastest method.
When you run node -v in your terminal you will see the the latest version.
Mac
If you originally installed Node.js using brew then run:
brew upgrade node
Managing Multiple Versions of Node.js:
If you need to run multiple versions of Node.js on your machine e.g. if you have an older project that targets a specific version on AWS Lambda, then NVM (Node Version Manger) is your friend!
Step 1 - Get NVM
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.3/install.sh | bash
If you're curious about the installation command read the source code
... its been reviewed by several node.js security experts
Step 2 - Install the Specific Version of Node.js you need
Once you've got NVM you can install a specific version of Node.js using the nvm command:
nvm install v22.16.0
Note: you may need to close & re-open your terminal window for nvm command to be available.
You should expect to see something like this in your terminal:
Now using node v22.16.0
You now have the latest Node.js on your machine.
And if you need to temporarily switch to a different/previous version, you can do it with a simple nvm command.
Note: avoid using
sudowith Node/NPM as it violates the security principal of least privilege
NVM is considered "better" than N for managing multiple Node.js versions because the verbose commands mean it is much easier to keep track of what you are doing in your Terminal/SSH Log. It is used by the team at NPM the creators/custodians of the Node.js World!
What are the checklists to use when upgrading from nodejs16 to nodejs18? The project also has some typescripts.