@webreflection/json-watch

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A modern take at this 7yo json-watch module.

import watcher from '@webreflection/json-watch';

// returns a Proxy for an arrow function
const json = watcher('/path/to/file.json');
// {"any":"data"} as file content example

// the object reads the file only when accessed
// and only if there were no changes in between reads
json.any === 'data'; // true

// setting arbitrary data is OK too
json.other = 'stuff';

// but no write happens out of the box, however
// it is always possible to save the file again
import {writeFile} from 'node:fs';
writeFile('/path/to/file.json', JSON.stringify(json), _ => {
  // once written, all other watchers will have the latest
  // written version of the JSON object content
  console.log(json.other); // "stuff"
});

The default export watcher(path[, options]) accepts an optional object to configure the watch(path, options) node operation.

By default, the options object contains {persistent: false}. All options for watch are available.

What are the differences compared to the old module?

• multiple paths can be observerd, not just one per time
• the first read is lazy
• Proxy is (imho) a better DX for this kind of utility / use case
• the amount of consumed memory is fine-tuned to the minumum
• the JSON can contain single line comments which, even if not allowed by specs, is practical for settings.json like config files and entries description (meaning, the .json file can also be a parsable .js file that preserve other .json rules)
• it has 100% code coverage
• it's a dual ESM / CJS module