Nub is an all-in-one tool made for people who develop applications with Node.js. The idea behind the program is to combine many common development tasks into a single tool, so you don’t have to install and switch between different programs.
Allows you to run TypeScript directly with Node.js
If you usually write programs in TypeScript, then you already know that you first have to convert it into regular JavaScript before Node.js can run it. Thanks to this app, you skip that extra step, thus letting Node.js run the TypeScript file directly, which can save a lot of time.
The primary job of the tool is to extend the standard Node.js runtime so it can understand features that it doesn’t handle on its own, in particular TypeScript. It doesn’t replace Node.js but rather sits on top of it and adds support for TypeScript, JSX or YAML/TOML. The app can also automatically read the settings, load environment variables from files and support modern JavaScript features and Web APIs out of the box.
Node.js can understand the simplest TypeScript features, but only if it removes the type information. This app converts the entire TypeScript into JavaScript automatically, so you can use all its features without having to worry about Node.js support.
It uses Node.js behind the scenes
Nub doesn’t replace Node.js with its own version, but instead it uses the real Node that’s already installed on your computer. This means that programs behave the same as they normally would in Node, but with extra features like running TypeScript directly.
The developer mentions that you can replace the node command with nub in your existing projects without changing how they work. The app passes all commands and settings directly to the real Node.js program, so everything behaves the same. You can stop using it at any time and go back to using Node normally.