node-abi

What is node-abi?

The node-abi package is designed to help developers determine the correct Node.js ABI (Application Binary Interface) version for a given version of Node.js or Electron. This is particularly useful for developers working with native modules, as it allows them to target and compile their modules against the correct ABI version, ensuring compatibility across different Node.js and Electron versions.

What are node-abi's main functionalities?

Determining Node.js ABI for a specific version

This feature allows developers to get the ABI version for a specific version of Node.js. It's useful for ensuring that native modules are compiled against the correct ABI version.

"const nodeAbi = require('node-abi');
const abi = nodeAbi.getAbi('14.0.0', 'node');
console.log(abi); // Outputs the ABI version for Node.js 14.0.0"

Determining Electron ABI for a specific version

Similar to the Node.js ABI determination, this feature allows for the retrieval of the ABI version for a specific version of Electron. It's essential for developers working with Electron applications that include native modules.

"const nodeAbi = require('node-abi');
const electronAbi = nodeAbi.getAbi('11.0.0', 'electron');
console.log(electronAbi); // Outputs the ABI version for Electron 11.0.0"

Getting all supported targets

This feature provides a list of all supported targets (Node.js and Electron versions) and their corresponding ABI versions. It's useful for developers to understand the range of versions their native module can support.

"const nodeAbi = require('node-abi');
const targets = nodeAbi.supportedTargets;
console.log(targets); // Outputs an array of supported targets including their versions and ABI"

Other packages similar to node-abi

prebuild

Prebuild is a package that simplifies the process of building native modules across different Node.js versions. It automates the process of prebuilding binaries for multiple versions, which is a similar domain to node-abi but focuses more on the building process rather than just determining ABI versions.

nvm

NVM (Node Version Manager) is a tool for managing multiple Node.js versions. While not a direct alternative to node-abi, it relates in the sense that managing different Node.js versions is crucial for developers working with native modules and needing to ensure compatibility across versions.

README

Node.js ABI

Get the Node ABI for a given target and runtime, and vice versa.

Installation

npm install node-abi

Usage

const nodeAbi = require('node-abi')

nodeAbi.getAbi('7.2.0', 'node')
// '51'
nodeAbi.getAbi('1.4.10', 'electron')
// '50'
nodeAbi.getTarget('51', 'node')
// '7.2.0'
nodeAbi.getTarget('50', 'electron')
// '1.4.15'

nodeAbi.allTargets
// [
//  { runtime: 'node', target: '0.10.48', abi: '11', lts: false },
//  { runtime: 'node', target: '0.12.17', abi: '14', lts: false },
//  { runtime: 'node', target: '4.6.1', abi: '46', lts: true },
//  { runtime: 'node', target: '5.12.0', abi: '47', lts: false },
//  { runtime: 'node', target: '6.9.4', abi: '48', lts: true },
//  { runtime: 'node', target: '7.4.0', abi: '51', lts: false },
//  { runtime: 'electron', target: '1.0.2', abi: '47', lts: false },
//  { runtime: 'electron', target: '1.2.8', abi: '48', lts: false },
//  { runtime: 'electron', target: '1.3.13', abi: '49', lts: false },
//  { runtime: 'electron', target: '1.4.15', abi: '50', lts: false }
// ]
nodeAbi.deprecatedTargets
nodeAbi.supportedTargets
nodeAbi.futureTargets
// ...

References

• https://github.com/lgeiger/electron-abi
• https://nodejs.org/en/download/releases/
• https://github.com/nodejs/LTS