Example:

fs.readFile(path.join(__dirname, 'path/to/file'), callback);

versus

fs.readFile('path/to/file', callback);

Both seem to work, so I'm wondering if I can just skip the __dirname prefix, i.e. if there is any reason to prepend it.

Example:

fs.readFile(path.join(__dirname, 'path/to/file'), callback);

versus

fs.readFile('path/to/file', callback);

Both seem to work, so I'm wondering if I can just skip the __dirname prefix, i.e. if there is any reason to prepend it.

• javascript
• node.js
• file
• path

2 Answers 2

From the node docs,

__dirname

is the name of the directory that the currently executing script resides in.

This will allow for flexibility across multiple deployments (eg: development / production).

If you are not deploying to any remote servers, you probably don't need the __dirname tag.

It is often better to use __dirname because it won't care where node is running from (i.e. the cwd).

Try running your application from a different directory - the __dirname variant will still succeed while the other will not. I.e. instead of node app.js run node foo/app.js assuming app.js lives in a directory named foo.