QA
Intermediate LevelNode JS

How does the native node --watch flag in Node.js 18+ replace nodemon for automatic development process restarting?

❓ Interview Prompt: Running node --watch server.js natively monitors imported script files and automatically restarts the Node.js process whenever a file is saved. Zero external nodemon dependency required.

Node 18+ includes native watch mode via the '--watch' CLI flag:

Feature:

Natively monitors the main script and all imported ES/CJS dependency modules, automatically restarting the process on file save without needing 'nodemon'!

Code Implementation Example

bash
# Run server in native watch mode (restarts automatically on file change)
node --watch server.js

# Watch specific directory
node --watch-path=./src server.js
💡Running Node.js in native watch mode.
🎯 Interview Key Takeaway

Use node --watch in Node 18+ for automatic development hot reloading without external nodemon dependencies.

#--watch#Hot Reload#Development#Intermediate
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