10 Best npm Packages for Node.js API Development (PART — 2)

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Node.js has a vibrant ecosystem of npm packages that can significantly enhance your API development process. These packages provide essential functionalities such as routing, validation, security, and more, helping you build robust and scalable APIs. Here are 10 of the best npm packages for Node.js API development:

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1. bcrypt

Purpose: Library to hash passwords.

Why It’s Great:

• Password security is critical in any application. bcrypt allows you to hash passwords before storing them in your database, making it much harder for attackers to retrieve the original passwords even if they gain access to your database.

Example:

const bcrypt = require('bcrypt');

const saltRounds = 10;
const plainPassword = 'userpassword';

bcrypt.hash(plainPassword, saltRounds, (err, hash) => {
  // Store hash in your database
  console.log('Hashed password:', hash);
});

// Verifying the password
bcrypt.compare(plainPassword, hash, (err, result) => {
  console.log('Password match:', result);
});

Installation:

npm install bcrypt