Question 1

How does cross-spawn fix Windows command execution issues?

Accepted Answer

cross-spawn handles PATHEXT, shebangs, and spaces in paths by automatically escaping and adjusting commands, ensuring they run correctly on Windows where Node's native spawn often fails. It also supports command shims from npm packages without syntax errors.

Question 2

cross-spawn vs Node's child_process.spawn: which is better for cross-platform scripts?

Accepted Answer

cross-spawn is better for cross-platform scripts because it reliably fixes Windows-specific problems that native spawn doesn't handle. However, for Unix-only projects or when using Node's shell option with careful argument escaping, native spawn might be sufficient.

Question 3

How to use cross-spawn with async and sync methods in Node.js?

Accepted Answer

Import cross-spawn and use spawn() for async execution or spawn.sync() for sync, mirroring Node's API. For example, const child = spawn('npm', ['install']) runs asynchronously, while const result = spawn.sync('npm', ['install']) runs synchronously.

Question 4

What are the limitations of cross-spawn on Windows shebangs?

Accepted Answer

cross-spawn only supports shebangs of the form #!/usr/bin/env <program> without any arguments on Windows. More complex shebangs with parameters are not handled, which may require workarounds for advanced use cases.

Question 5

Does cross-spawn work with npm scripts and command shims?

Accepted Answer

Yes, cross-spawn correctly executes npm scripts and command shims from node_modules/.bin/, even with arguments containing quotes or parentheses, preventing the invalid syntax errors common in native Node spawn.

Question 6

How to install cross-spawn for older Node.js versions?

Accepted Answer

For Node.js 8 and up, install with npm install cross-spawn. For Node.js 7 and under, use npm install cross-spawn@6 to ensure compatibility, as specified in the README's installation section.

cross-spawn

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