What is the difference between dependencies and devDependencies?

Short answer: dependencies: These are required for your app to run in production. 📌

Example code

express, mongoose devDependencies: Only needed during development (testing, building, linting). 📌 Example: nodemon, eslint, jest 📦 These are defined in package.json: "dependencies": { "express": "^4.18.0" }, "devDependencies": { "nodemon": "^3.0.0" } ✅ Install a dev dependency with: npm install nodemon --save-dev

Say this in the interview

1. Define — one clear sentence (the short answer above).
2. Example — relate it to a project like ShopNest or your real work.
3. Trade-off — when you would not use it.