Nodemon for development reloading in Express - Cheat Sheet & Quick Revision

Recall & Review

beginner

What is Nodemon in the context of Express development?

Nodemon is a tool that automatically restarts your Express server whenever it detects file changes. This helps developers see updates immediately without manually stopping and starting the server.

beginner

How do you install Nodemon for your Express project?

You install Nodemon by running npm install --save-dev nodemon. This adds Nodemon as a development dependency, so it is only used during development.

beginner

How can you start your Express app using Nodemon?

You can start your app with Nodemon by running npx nodemon app.js or by adding a script in package.json like "start:dev": "nodemon app.js" and then running npm run start:dev.

beginner

Why is Nodemon useful compared to manually restarting the server?

Nodemon saves time and effort by watching your files and restarting the server automatically. This means you can focus on coding without interrupting your workflow to restart the server each time you make a change.

intermediate

Can Nodemon watch specific file types or folders only?

Yes, Nodemon can be configured to watch specific files or folders by using a nodemon.json file or command line options. For example, you can watch only JavaScript files or exclude certain folders to optimize reloading.

What does Nodemon do when it detects a file change in your Express app?

A Automatically restarts the server

B Deletes the changed file

C Sends an email notification

D Compiles the code into a binary

Nodemon watches for file changes and restarts the server automatically to reflect updates.

How do you add Nodemon as a development tool in your project?

A npm start nodemon

B npm install --save-dev nodemon

C npm uninstall nodemon

D npm install nodemon --global

Installing with --save-dev adds Nodemon as a development dependency.

Which command runs your app with Nodemon without installing it globally?

A nodemon start

B node app.js

C npm run nodemon

D npx nodemon app.js

Using npx runs Nodemon from your local node_modules without global install.

What file can you create to customize Nodemon's behavior?

A nodemon.json

B nodemon.config.js

C package-lock.json

D express.json

nodemon.json lets you specify files to watch, ignore, and other settings.

Why might you want to exclude some folders from Nodemon watching?

A To make Nodemon run slower

B To delete those folders automatically

C To reduce unnecessary restarts and improve performance

D To prevent Nodemon from starting

Excluding folders like node_modules avoids restarts triggered by irrelevant changes.

Explain how Nodemon improves the development experience when working with Express apps.

Think about what happens when you change code and how Nodemon helps.

Describe the steps to set up Nodemon in a new Express project.

Focus on installation, running, and configuration.