README.md

dn - Docker powered Node.js version manager

Getting started

1. Install Docker

2. Download and install latest release:

   wget https://github.com/sfertman/dn/releases/latest/download/dn.sh  
   chmod +x dn.sh  
   ./dn.sh install
   

3. Start using the version of node you want, e.g.:

   dn 6.14
   

4. Learn more:

   dn --help
   

Why does it exist?

• I need to make sure my apps work with multiple versions of Node.js
• I need to reproducibly build, test and run Node.js apps. Docker is a great solution for deployment but I don't want to deal with dockerfiles and docker-compose in my day to day.
• I wanted to see what it takes to build a "batteries included", well documented cli application in bash (this still has some way to go but I think I've done pretty well so far.)

Inspiration

• tj/n
• jenv
• Docker

Compared with n

Whenever you switch node versions in n, it removes the previous version and installs the new one on your machine. dn does not touch your existing node installation. Instead, it pulls the official node alpine docker images and runs your commands in containers.

Limitations

• Currently limited to whatever comes with node:X-alpine docker image. So, if you have a fancy build process which requires special dependencies then this manager cannot support it yet.
• Performance, especially start up, can be a bit slower since we're running in Docker.
• No terminal tab completion yet.
• Tested on Ubuntu, Mac, bash and zsh only.