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Now that we know that we can save time by
using NPM to install packages that add

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functionality to our apps,
we don't want to waste any

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of that time we've saved when we're
searching for packages to use.

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With over a million packages available and

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many packages that offer
similar functionality,

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how can developers decide on which
package is right for their project?

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To ensure your projects
will be reliable over time,

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it's best to pick packages
that are also reliable.

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There are a few factors we can look at
that will help us to choose packages that

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are up to date, and well supported.

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One way of finding out more
about a package is its NPM page.

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Here we can see the latest version,
the number of weekly downloads,

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instructions for using the package.

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We can even learn more by checking
out a package's GitHub repository.

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Here we can find the latest issues and
pull requests.

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These are ways of tracking
the changes that have been made and

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need to be made on the package.

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When looking at activity on a GitHub repo,
it helps to check how recent and

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frequent activity is.

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If no one has made
a contribution in a while,

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the project may have been abandoned.

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You can also take into account how many
people have watched or start a repo.

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One tool for
password management is hashing, or

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converting the format of
a password before storing it.

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Let's say we're searching for a package
to help us hash user passwords for

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our own app.

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A developer friend of ours mentions
Bcrypt as a possible solution.

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When we search on NPM,
there are different options.

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One is Bcrypt and another is Bcryptjs.

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With NPM, we can check if a package has
been tested and if it's up to date.

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When we examine the package for bcrypt,

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we notice that it's been marked as
out of date and it's failing tests.

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Bcrypt js contrastingly,
has more weekly downloads,

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passing tests, and
more recent activity on its code.

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Based on this, it's probably best
to use bcrypt js for our project.