NPM comes automatically bundled with Node so we only need to install Node itself this way to get both! Then sit back and wait: Homebrew will automatically download, unpack, and install the software for us.

Within your Terminal app, type brew install node. The following steps should only take a few minutes. Now that we have Xcode and Homebrew, installing Node and NPM–and indeed any software in the future–is straightforward. You’ll see messages in the Terminal explaining how to complete the installation setup. On your command line, type the following command and hit Return: Once installation is complete, make sure to also install the Xcode Command Line Tools. It’s a large program so this might take a while. You can install XCode from the App Store. It is used to build Mac and iOS apps and also compile software.

The first step is to install Xcode, a free software development tool written by Apple. The Node.js site has its own installer, but if you’re working on a Mac, you’re far better off using a package manger like Homebrew to install and manage your software packages. Note: If you’re on a Windows computer, check out my tutorial for How to Install Node.js and NPM on Windows. And with NPM, the package manager used with Node, we can install external modules to help speed up our development. With Node.js, a “JavaScript runtime,” we can now write JavaScript beyond the browser such as a web server or even on hardware like robots. It is built into most web browsers and used to add interactivity to websites. JavaScript is one of the most popular programming languages in the world.

Install npm mac brew