Using "global" in Node.js

Question

In a Node API I'm building I want a quick and dirty way of creating a global bool to enable (or disable) some debug logging. I'm doing this right now:

In main.js (main entry point) I've got:

global.DEBUG = true;

And then in any modules I use, I can do:

if (DEBUG) { 
    // then do stuff 
}

Is there anything wrong with doing it this way? Is there a more appropriate way and if so, why is it a better way?

Daniel · Accepted Answer · 2014-11-22 19:53:47Z

4

You're better off doing this with environment variables.

var DEBUG = process.env.DEBUG;
if (DEBUG) {
  // then do stuff
}

Then start your app

$ DEBUG=TRUE node app.js

answered Nov 22, 2014 at 19:53

Daniel

38.9k12 gold badges95 silver badges73 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

Ethan Brown Over a year ago

I was going to say the same thing. I usually use an environment variable called LOG_LEVEL that can be ERROR, WARN, INFO, DEBUG, etc.

brandonscript Over a year ago

I like it. Got me thinking I should go look for this too haha

Elyas74 · Accepted Answer · 2014-11-22 20:26:47Z

0

You can do this :

global.debug = true ;// or false

//and in any file

if(global.debug){
   // something
}

answered Nov 22, 2014 at 20:26

Elyas74

5481 gold badge5 silver badges19 bronze badges

Comments

Scimonster · Accepted Answer · 2014-11-22 20:02:03Z

-1

Use a config-module and include it if needed:

//conf.js
module.exports = {
DEBUG: true
}

//other.js
if(require('./conf').DEBUG)

edited Nov 22, 2014 at 20:02

Scimonster

33.4k10 gold badges79 silver badges92 bronze badges

answered Nov 22, 2014 at 19:54

Johannes Reuter

3,53921 silver badges20 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Using "global" in Node.js

3 Answers 3

2 Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

3 Answers 3

2 Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related