In the simplest terms, a dependency is something that is required for something else to work properly. In the context of software, a dependency is (usually) an NPM package that is required to be installed for certain code to execute properly.

Dependencies are often called packages or libraries, and they are incredibly useful pieces of software that enable you to do more with your code. In the context of Flatfile, dependencies are most often used when writing Data Hooks® to standardize things like dates, phone numbers, or countless other tasks. Dependencies are a way of writing powerful code without having to reinvent the wheel, so to speak, so you don’t have to start at square one every time you need to update a time stamp.