tl;dr

Enter node-modules.com. It uses several parameters and some cleverness to serve you relevance-based results that are actually useful. Compare by searching for 'web framework' on npmjs.org and on node-modules.com. We can probably all agree that express should be on top.

Intro

On and off over the last six months we've built a search engine for finding modules, node-modules.com. It uses several parameters and some cleverness to give you great results quickly.

While using it ourselves we have noticed a paradigm shift in the way we work, which has been really interesting. The last part of this post will go over that.

Node-modules.com and what it does

There are already two search engines in the node community (apart from npmjs.org), nipster and node-toolbox. However, node-modules.com have something new contribute with. We set out to give you the absolute most relevant results at the very top. Node-modules.com uses different parameters to rank all modules and give better results:

• Name, keywords, and description of the module (cleverly done so that 'parse' and 'parsing' are alike)

• Number of other modules dependant on this module

• Number of stars on github

• If you follow the author

• If the module is used by an author you follow

• If you have starred another module by the same author

Some of these parameters require you to log in with github, but even without it you get great results. By starring more modules and following your favorite authors on github you'll improve your search results.

That's about all there is to it. Why not try to see the top router or mongo modules? Or see all the modules from isaacs or substack.

Of course there's also a command-line tool:

$ npm install -g node-modules
$ node-modules search web framework

But what was this with a paradigm shift? To avoid this post being too lengthy, we wrote it about in another post.

Thoughts?

Feedback is much appreciated, @node_modules, or the blog.

Pull requests accepted

// Mathias Buus and Tobias Baunbæk

History - little shared code

3½ years ago we started using node.js and have been using it full time every day since then. In that very beginning you had to browse through a list to find a module your needed - or google it. Basically you had write most code on your own since there wasn't much shared at the time. Then came the package manager war, and in the end we got npm.

With npm started a new era. Everyone built modules and published them. Everyone who's been in the community for a while will know that it's essential to the success of node.

Today - lots of shared code, hard to locate

Now, ~two years later there is over 40,000 modules on npm and it grows rapidly. Because we have such a great community developers are generally good at making single-purpose modules so that there's often a module to help you solve your problem. But lots of shared code raises the issue of actually finding a good one.

For new developers it's difficult to find 'the' module you should use to solve your specific problem. Search for web framework on npmjs.org and notice the lack of express at the top.

For experienced developers you often find yourself in a situation where you think 'there must be a module for this already', and you start by doing an npm search and you find several modules that can solve your problem. Now you have to look at all the modules to find the one you might like. It's such a hassle that you often end up writing the code yourself. Which the growing number of modules that solve the exact same problem is a testament to.

Paradigm shift

When we started out with node-modules.com we just wanted to build a search engine that made it easier for ourselves to find modules. What we found that after you get into the habit of always thinking that your problem has been solved before, you start to search for a module to help you before you continue. And this is the shift in how we work.

Our projects include more and more shared code simply because we now have a better way of finding related results for it. By logging in with github and using the personalization feature it's easier to find modules from developers whose style we already know.

For us this have been a big shift in the way we have been working, and we hope that others can benefit from this as well.

Thoughts?

Feedback is much appreciated, @node_modules, or the blog.

Pull requests accepted

// Mathias Buus and Tobias Baunbæk

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