[FEATURE] Make it easier to install several dependencies at once

[Qwerty (Vítězslav Ackermann Ferko)]

What / Why

Using npx to initiate project scaffolders is quite common and is actually the only reason I ever use npx. Such a scaffolder often needs more than one package installed though. I would appreciate if the syntax was a little bit leaner.

currently

npx -p yo -p generator-code -c "yo code"

desired

npx -c "yo code" -d yo generator-code

npx -c "<command-string>" -d <package>[ <package>]...

dependencies -d

• -d <space-separated-packages-list> is a shorthand for [-p <package>]...
• The -d option will interpret any <command> after -d as a package name until another <option> is encountered

[Felipe Santos]

By the way, the -c isn't needed, right? You can use just npx -p yo -p generator-code yo code.

[Qwerty (Vítězslav Ackermann Ferko)]

@felipecassiors I don't know, but in that case, the new preferred syntax would be

npx yo code -d yo generator-code

Just so that we are on the same track, imagine this

npx yo code -d yo generator-code promise-polyfill datetime module-loader typescript

which would be short for

npx yo code -p yo -p generator-code -p promise-polyfill -p datetime module-loader -p typescript

[Christian Höltje]

# Does not work
$ npx yo code -p yo -p generator-code
Error code -p yo -p generator-code

# Works
$ npx -p yo -p generator-code yo code

The reason is that everything from "yo" on is used to construct the command line to be executed.

How about instead changing -p to take a comma delimited list?

# Concept: comma separated list
$ npx -p yo,generator-code@^1.2.10 yo code

[Felipe Santos]

The fact is that npx treats any non-option argument as the command to run. And all the subsequent arguments to be passed as-is for the command. Just like docker run. And this is not supposed to be changed.

I think accepting a comma-delimited list is the cleanest approach so far, as suggested by @docwhat.