How to install and configure Node.js on an Android phone

With the booming development of the mobile Internet, Android has become one of the most popular smartphone operating systems in the world. At the same time, Node.js, as an efficient and easy-to-use JavaScript running environment, is constantly developing and is favored by more and more developers.

Today, let’s take a look at how to install and configure Node.js on an Android phone and start developing with it.

1. Install Termux

Developers who come into contact with Node.js for the first time may be at a loss because they do not have a suitable development environment. Here, I will introduce a method to install Node.js on an Android phone, which all needs to be done under the Termux application. Termux is a highly customizable Linux terminal emulator that can easily run command line-based tools and scripts such as SSH and HTTP on Android devices. In order to install Node.js, we need to install the application first.

To download and install Termux in the Play Store, please perform the following steps:

1. Open the Google Play Store app;
2. Search for Termux or download directly at the following URL ：https://termux.com/
3. Click the install button and wait for the installation to complete.

2. Install Node.js

After installing Termux, we can install Node.js through the application. We have two ways to install Node.js: the first is by installing using a package manager and the second is by building manually from source.

1. Use the package manager to install

Termux comes with a package manager that can easily install Node.js. First, start a new terminal session on Termux's home screen.

Enter the following command in the terminal:

pkg install nodejs

This will automatically download and install Node.js and all its dependencies. During the installation process, you will be asked if you agree to the installation.

After the installation is complete, enter the following command in the terminal to verify that Node.js has been installed correctly:

node -v

If you see To output similar to "v12.18.3", congratulations, you have successfully installed Node.js.

2. Manual Build

Although installing through the package manager is faster, in some cases, we need to build Node.js manually. This may be because you need to build a specific version of Node.js or need to build it on a specific platform.

Here are the steps to build Node.js manually:

1. Install the required build tools

In the Termux terminal, enter the following command to install the build Dependencies:

pkg install coreutils clang make python2 openssl-dev

2. Download and extract the Node.js source code

In the directory where you plan to download the Node.js source code, open Termux and run the following command:

curl -LO https://nodejs.org/dist/v12.18.3/node-v12 .18.3.tar.gz

This will download the source code for Node.js v12.18.3. Please note that the version numbers here may change over time. Just replace it with the version number you need to build.

After the download is complete, use the following command to unzip it:

tar -xzvf node-v12.18.3.tar.gz

3. Compile and install Node.js

Go to the newly extracted directory and enter the following command to compile Node.js:

./configure 
make 
make install

This will build and install Node.js and all its dependencies item. This process may take some time, depending on the capabilities of your device.

3. Install the necessary Node.js modules

If you need to use some platform-specific functionality in Node.js (for example, need to access the device’s GPS or read the file storage), you need to install Node.js modules specific to these features. These modules are usually installed via npm, so you need to make sure npm is installed.

You can use the following command in the Termux terminal to check if npm is installed:

npm -v

If you see something like " 6.14.6" output, then congratulations you have installed npm.

If you need to install some specific Node.js modules, please run the following command:

npm install <module-name></module-name>

In the above command, replace with the name of the module you want to install. For example, if you want to install the GPS module for Android devices, you can use the following command:

npm install gps

This will automatically download and install the relevant Node.js modules.

4. Configure Node.js

Finally, let’s take a look at how to configure Node.js to run our JavaScript code.

By default, Node.js in Termux has its node binary added to $PATH, so just enter the node command in the terminal to start the Node.js REPL (interactive interpreter ). To run the JavaScript code, type the following command:

node <filename>.js</filename>

In the command above, replace with the The name of the JavaScript file to run. Note that this file must be placed in the same directory as Termux, or reference it using an absolute path.

If you need to use system-level functionality in your code (such as reading the file system or accessing the GPS on the device), you must include the relevant Node.js modules in your code.

in conclusion

In today's article, we learned how to install and configure Node.js on Android phones, and how to use it for JavaScript development. Using the Termux application and package manager, we can easily start using Node.js and run and develop applications such as web applications, APIs and scripts on Android devices.

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