The world of NPM is vast. With over 2 million packages available, it’s easy to gravitate towards the big names—React, Lodash, Express—and miss out on some truly underrated gems that could make your life as a developer so much easier.
1. date-fns-tz
Solve Time Zone Headaches Without the Overhead
Time zones are the worst. Parsing and formatting dates across time zones can quickly turn into a nightmare. While libraries like moment-timezone are popular, they’re often bloated and outdated. Enter date-fns-tz.
Why it’s underrated:
Use case:
You’re building an app that schedules events for users in different time zones.
Example:
`import { formatInTimeZone } from 'date-fns-tz';
const timeZone = 'America/New_York';
const date = new Date();
const formattedDate = formatInTimeZone(date, timeZone, 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ssXXX');
console.log(formattedDate); // 2024-11-25 10:00:00-05:00`
2. clsx
The Smarter Way to Manage Dynamic Class Names
If you’ve ever had to write complex className logic in React, you know how messy it can get. clsx is a tiny utility that simplifies conditional class names into clean, readable code.
Why it’s underrated:
Use case:
Managing multiple class conditions for buttons, modals, or forms in React.
Example:
`import clsx from 'clsx';
const isActive = true;
const isDisabled = false;
const buttonClass = clsx('btn', { 'btn-active': isActive, 'btn-disabled': isDisabled });
console.log(buttonClass); // "btn btn-active"`
3. ow
Run Stronger, More Readable Input Validation
Input validation often feels like boilerplate code—necessary, but repetitive and tedious. ow by Sindre Sorhus (the creator of many great NPM tools) makes input validation declarative and readable.
Why it’s underrated:
Use case:
Validating API responses, CLI inputs, or function arguments.
Example:
`import ow from 'ow';
const validateUser = (user) => {
ow(user, ow.object.exactShape({
name: ow.string.minLength(3),
age: ow.number.integer.positive,
email: ow.string.url,
}));
};
validateUser({ name: 'John', age: 25, email: 'example@example.com' }); // Passes`
4. npm-check
Keep Your Dependencies in Check
Ever wondered if your project’s dependencies are out of date or if there’s something you can remove? npm-check is like Marie Kondo for your node_modules.
Why it’s underrated:
Use case:
Keeping your project dependencies clean and up to date without manual inspection.
Example:
npx npm-check
Run this command, and it will give you an interactive list of dependencies with options to update or remove them.
5. log-symbols
Better CLI Feedback with Minimal Effort
Building a CLI tool or a script? Make your logs more intuitive with log-symbols. It adds platform-friendly icons (checkmarks, crosses, warnings) to your terminal output.
Why it’s underrated:
Use case:
Adding visual feedback to custom CLI tools or deployment scripts.
Example:
`import logSymbols from 'log-symbols';
console.log(logSymbols.success, 'Build completed successfully!');
console.log(logSymbols.error, 'Failed to connect to the database.');
console.log(logSymbols.warning, 'Using default configuration.');`
There’s more to NPM than the usual suspects.
The next time you find yourself stuck on a repetitive task or looking for a smarter way to handle something, dive into the lesser-known corners of the NPM ecosystem.
What are your favorite underrated NPM packages?
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