Faster npm

npm is the premier package repository on the web and we all use it a ton, obviously.  npm has started using basic progress bar graphics to notify users of download progress, which is nice, but appears to slow down the entire process.  This tweet blew my mind:

It sounds crazy, but disabling npm's progress bar yields a 2x npm install speed improvement for me pic.twitter.com/ChXxSepCBK

— Gavin Joyce (@gavinjoyce) January 26, 2016

Executing the following before an npm install dramatically speeds up the process:

npm set progress=false

You wont see a beautiful progress bar but you will get faster installs which, in my opinion, is an excellent trade off!