Can I know, in node.js, if my script is being run directly or being loaded by another script?

Question

I'm just getting started with node.js and I have some experience with Python. In Python I could check whether the __name__ variable was set to "__main__", and if it was I'd know that my script was being run directly. In that case I could run test code or make use of the module directly in other ways.

Is there anything similar in node.js?

Answer 1

You can use module.parent to determine if the current script is loaded by another script.

e.g.

a.js:

if (!module.parent) {     console.log("I'm parent"); } else {     console.log("I'm child"); } 

b.js:

require('./a') 

run node a.js will output:

I'm parent 

run node b.js will output:

I'm child