Okay, so you’ve heard about this new JavaScript package manager called yarn, installed it with npm i -g yarn , and now you want to know how to use it? For the most part if you know NPM, you’re already set! Here are the key notes for switching.

👍 Feel free to bookmark this article, as it will update often as yarn grows.

Cheat Sheet — What you need to know

npm install === yarn

Install is the default behavior.

Install is the default behavior. npm install taco --save === yarn add taco

The Taco package is saved to your package.json immediately.

The Taco package is saved to your immediately. npm uninstall taco --save === yarn remove taco

—-save can be defaulted in NPM by npm config set save true but this is non-obvious to most developers. Adding and removing from package.json is default in Yarn.

can be defaulted in NPM by but this is non-obvious to most developers. Adding and removing from is default in Yarn. npm install taco --save-dev === yarn add taco --dev

npm update --save === yarn upgrade

Great call on upgrade vs update, since that is exactly what it is doing! Version number moves, upgrade is happening!

*WARNING* npm update --save seems to be kinda broken in 3.11

Great call on upgrade vs update, since that is exactly what it is doing! Version number moves, upgrade is happening! seems to be kinda broken in 3.11 npm install taco@latest --save === yarn add taco

npm install taco --global === yarn global add taco

As always, use global flag with care.

You can use this to use yarn to update itself with yarn self-update

What you already know about yarn

The packages are the same as on the NPM registry. Yarn is basically a new installer, where NPM structure and registry is the same.

npm init === yarn init

=== npm link === yarn link

=== npm outdated === yarn outdated

=== npm publish === yarn publish

=== npm run === yarn run

=== npm cache clean === yarn cache clean

=== npm login === yarn login (and logout)

=== (and logout) npm test === yarn test

=== npm install --production === yarn --production

Things yarn has that NPM doesn’t

I’m skipping the items that they warn against using like yarn clean

yarn licenses ls — Allows you to inspect the licenses of your dependencies

— Allows you to inspect the licenses of your dependencies yarn licenses generate-disclaimer — Automatically create your license dependency disclaimer

— Automatically create your license dependency disclaimer yarn why taco — Identify why ‘taco’ package is installed, detailing which other packages depend upon it (thanks Olivier Combe).

— Identify why ‘taco’ package is installed, detailing which other packages depend upon it (thanks Olivier Combe). ⬆️ Emojis

Speed 🏃⌁

Automatic shrinkwrap with the yarn lockfile

Security-centric design

yarn upgrade-interactive — Allows you to selectively upgrade specific packages in a simple way

Things NPM has that yarn doesn’t

npm xmas === **NO EQUIVALENT**

=== **NO EQUIVALENT** npm visnup === **NO EQUIVALENT**

MOAR!

Here’s a printable version of this cheat sheet, special thanks to Justin Huskey

Yarn spools worth reading:

Yehuda Katz using Yarn — http://yehudakatz.com/2016/10/11/im-excited-to-work-on-yarn-the-new-js-package-manager-2/

— http://yehudakatz.com/2016/10/11/im-excited-to-work-on-yarn-the-new-js-package-manager-2/ Facebook Announce — https://code.facebook.com/posts/1840075619545360

— https://code.facebook.com/posts/1840075619545360 News — http://thenextweb.com/dd/2016/10/12/facebook-launches-yarn-a-faster-npm-client/

— http://thenextweb.com/dd/2016/10/12/facebook-launches-yarn-a-faster-npm-client/ Benchmarking — https://www.berriart.com/blog/2016/10/npm-yarn-benchmark/

Continued education

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