Why Does NPM Use the `@` Prefix for Packages?

Understanding NPM's @ Prefix for Scoped Packages

In npm, the '@' prefix on package names denotes the use of "scoped packages." This feature allows users and organizations to namespace their packages, ensuring that they are the sole publishers of packages within their respective scopes.

How Scoped Packages Work

Scoped packages are analogous to namespaces in programming languages. Each user or organization has a unique scope, and package names within that scope only need to be unique to their respective scope, not to the entire npm registry. This means that different organizations or individuals can have packages with the same name, but they will be distinguished by their scopes.

Benefits of Scoped Packages

Scoped packages enhance package management in several ways:

• Official Package Identification: Organizations can easily identify their official packages by their scope, making it clear which packages are endorsed.
• Unique Package Naming: Packages within a scope can have unique names without conflicts, ensuring that there are no clashes with packages from other scopes.

Searching for Scoped Packages

Initially, scoped packages were not readily searchable in npm's public search due to the presence of private packages. However, public scoped packages are now searchable, making it easier to find and install them.

Example

The Angular library uses the @ prefix for its scoped packages, as seen in the command npm install @angular/router. This indicates that the @angular/router package is published by theAngular core team.

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