How to Install Yarn on MacOS

Yarn, a package manager for JavaScript created by the efforts of Facebook, Google, and others It’s built to be fast, reliable and secure. Yarn is a next-generation JavaScript package manager that stands for Yet Another Resource Negotiator and a lot of problems that developers are facing with npm (Node Package Manager), such as Inconsistent package installations and a lot more.

In this article, we will learn how to install Yarn on macOS and some commands to help you start adapting it.

Prerequisites

Before setting up Yarn Mac, kindly ensure you have the following prerequisites:

1. macOS version 11 that you are able run most.

2. Command line utility based on the Homebrew package manager for macOS. If you have not homebrew in your machine, run the below command in your terminal to install it.

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

3. Mac install Yarn requires Node.js to be installed on your system. Refer to our guide on how to install Node.js on macOS.

Installation Steps

Let’s proceed with the installation of Yarn on your macOS system:

Step 1: Update Homebrew

First, ensure that your Homebrew installation is up to date. Open your terminal and run the following command:

brew update

This command updates Homebrew to the latest version, ensuring you have access to the most recent packages.

Step 2: Install Yarn

With Homebrew updated, you can now Yarn install Mac. Run the following command in your terminal:

brew install yarn

This command will download and install Yarn, along with all its dependencies. The installation process might take a few minutes, depending on your internet connection.

Step 3: Verify Yarn Installation

After the installation is complete, you should verify that Yarn is installed correctly. Run the following command to check the version of Yarn installed on your system:

yarn --version

If Yarn is installed correctly, you should see the version number displayed in your terminal. This confirms that the Yarn is ready for use.

Using Yarn on macOS

Now that you have Yarn installed, let’s go over some basic commands to help you get started.

Initializing a New Project

To create a new project using Yarn, navigate to your desired directory and run the following command:

yarn init

This command will prompt you to answer a series of questions about your project, such as its name, version, and entry point. You can either fill out these details or press Enter to accept the default values.

Adding Dependencies

With your project initialized, you can start adding dependencies. To add a package to your project, use the following command:

yarn add [package-name]

Replace [package-name] with the name of the package you want to install. Yarn will download the package and add it to your project’s node_modules directory.

Removing Dependencies

If you need to remove a package from your project, use the following command:

yarn remove [package-name]

Replace [package-name] with the name of the package you want to remove. Yarn will delete the package from your project’s node_modules directory and update your package.json file accordingly.

Updating Dependencies

To update all the dependencies in your project to their latest versions, use the following command:

yarn upgrade

This command will check for updates to your project’s dependencies and install the latest versions available.

Running Scripts

Yarn allows you to define and run scripts from your package.json file. To run a script, use the following command:

yarn run [script-name]

Replace [script-name] with the name of the script you want to execute. For example, if you have a script named start defined in your package.json file, you can run it using:

yarn run start

Best Practices

The following are some best practices after installing Yarn on macOS:

• Regularly update Yarn to the latest version to benefit from performance improvements, bug fixes, and new features.
• If you are working on a monorepo use Yarn Workspaces to manage dependencies for multiple projects within a single repository.
• Extend Yarn’s functionality by installing and using relevant plugins.

Conclusion

Yarn is a versatile and efficient package manager that offers numerous benefits over npm. By following this guide, you should have successfully installed Yarn on your macOS system and learned some essential commands to get you started. Yarn’s speed, reliability, and security make it a valuable tool for managing JavaScript projects, and its seamless integration with the JavaScript ecosystem ensures that you can easily manage dependencies and automate tasks.

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