title: Node.js - Run a module if it is not required tip-number: 17 tip-username: odsdq tip-username-profile: https://twitter.com/odsdq tip-tldr: In node, you can tell your program to do two different things depending on whether the code is run from require('./something.js') or node something.js. This is useful if you want to interact with one of your modules independently.

• /en/nodejs-run-a-module-if-it-is-not-required/

In node, you can tell your program to do two different things depending on whether the code is run from require('./something.js') or node something.js. This is useful if you want to interact with one of your modules independently.

if (!module.parent) {    // ran with `node something.js`    app.listen(8088, function () {        console.log('app listening on port 8088');    });} else {    // used with `require('/.something.js')`    module.exports = app;}

See the documentation for modules for more info.