devtools.fm: Developer Tools, Open Source, Software Development Jordan Harband - Npm Ecosystem, HeroDevs
Aug 26, 2024
Jordan Harband, a key figure in the npm ecosystem, maintains numerous impactful open source projects. He shares insights on the complexities of open source maintenance and the importance of prioritizing communication among contributors. The conversation dives into the intricacies of the npm landscape, including dependency management and security risks. Jordan discusses the balance between legacy support and innovation, and highlights the future challenges faced by npm, stressing the need for community collaboration and support from larger entities.
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First Open Source Contribution
- Jordan Harband's first open-source contribution was to a jQuery plugin in 2010.
- This led to maintaining projects due to frequent contributions and maintainer burnout.
Abstraction Advice
- Create abstractions only after seeing repetition three times in coding.
- Develop intuition for useful abstractions, even with less repetition, like the Unix philosophy.
Package Manager Insight
- NPM, Cargo, and Nyx are superior package managers due to their handling of dependency trees.
- Their allowance for dependency duplication simplifies updates, unlike others like Bundler.