First, npm start is essentially a shorthand for npm run start. npm stands for Node Package Manager, which is the package manager for Node.js. Both commands are used to execute the "start" script defined in the project.
Specifically, npm start is a built-in npm shortcut that defaults to executing node server.js unless the start script is customized in the package.json's scripts section. For example, if your package.json file has the following configuration:
"scripts": { "start": "node app.js" }
In this case, running npm start or npm run start will both execute node app.js.
However, it's worth noting that when using custom scripts, the npm run command can execute any script defined in package.json, not just the "start" script. For instance, if you also define a script called "test", you can run it with npm run test, but you cannot use npm test because npm test is another dedicated shortcut.
In summary, npm start is a dedicated shortcut for launching applications, while npm run start is a more general command that can execute any script defined in package.json, including "start". In most cases, both achieve the same result, but npm run offers greater flexibility and control.