Node.js Console/REPL

Node.js comes with virtual environment called REPL (aka Node shell). REPL stands for Read-Eval-Print-Loop. It is a quick and easy way to test simple Node.js/JavaScript code.

To launch the REPL (Node shell), open command prompt (in Windows) or terminal (in Mac or UNIX/Linux) and type node as shown below. It will change the prompt to > in Windows and MAC.

You can now test pretty much any Node.js/JavaScript expression in REPL. 10 + 20 will display 30 immediately in new line.

The + operator also concatenates strings as in browser's JavaScript.

You can also define variables and perform some operation on them.

If you need to write multi line JavaScript expression or function then just press Enter whenever you want to write something in the next line as a continuation of your code. The REPL terminal will display three dots (...), it means you can continue on next line. Write .break to get out of continuity mode.

For example, you can define a function and execute it as shown below.

You can execute an external JavaScript file by executing the node fileName command. For example, the following runs mynodejs-app.js on the command prompt/terminal and displays the result.

console.log("Hello World");

Now, you can execute mynodejs-app from command prompt as shown below.

To exit from the REPL terminal, press Ctrl + C twice or write .exit and press Enter.

Thus, you can execute any Node.js/JavaScript code in the node shell (REPL). This will give you a result which is similar to the one you will get in the console of Google Chrome browser.

The following table lists important REPL commands.