What is glob?
The glob npm package allows users to match file paths against specified patterns similar to how shell works. It is widely used for tasks such as file searching, filtering, and bulk operations on sets of files.
What are glob's main functionalities?
File Pattern Matching
Match files using the patterns the shell uses, like stars and stuff.
const glob = require('glob');
glob('**/*.js', function (er, files) {
// files is an array of filenames.
// If the `nonull` option is set, and nothing
// was found, then files is ["**/*.js"]
// er is an error object or null.
console.log(files);
});
Synchronous File Pattern Matching
Perform a synchronous glob search.
const glob = require('glob');
const files = glob.sync('**/*.js');
// files is an array of filenames found matching the pattern.
console.log(files);
Pattern Matching with Promises
Use glob with Promises for better async control flow.
const glob = require('glob');
const util = require('util');
const globPromise = util.promisify(glob);
globPromise('**/*.js').then(files => {
console.log(files);
}).catch(err => {
console.error('Error occurred:', err);
});
Other packages similar to glob
minimatch
Minimatch is a minimal matching utility that works similarly to glob but focuses on the pattern matching algorithm itself. It is actually used by glob under the hood for its matching capabilities.
fast-glob
Fast-glob is an alternative to glob that claims to be faster due to its use of streams and parallel processing. It provides a similar API and is often used when performance is a critical factor.
node-globule
Globule is another pattern matching library that extends the functionality of glob with additional features like filtering matched files using other patterns. It provides a more granular control over the file matching process.
micromatch
Micromatch is a smaller, more efficient, and highly configurable globbing library. It provides a powerful and expressive API for pattern matching and is designed to be faster and safer than minimatch.