Current state of middleware. Thoughts?

Hey guys, so I'm just recently getting into nodejs, and it relies heavily on middleware. Even the full stack frameworks require some middle ware.

It's a quick NPM install, much like composer but it really grates on me that.

1. I don't know how reputable the repo is
2. Finding the one I need is quite tedious
3. The coding / methods are different to other npm(s)
4. Some only work with the latest nodejs versions.

Essentially, it feels very fragmented, unlike how CI2.0 and 3.0 is packaged, as one stop framework with more or less everything you could ever want included.

I personally don't like this fragmented way of working. When you have everything bundled together you are more or less guaranteed it works and the code is good to use.

With so much middleware it is liking taking a shot in the dark.

I don't know, what are your thoughts, do you disagree?

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Yes, it can be very frustrating for all the reasons you mention. However, once you find the right combo of packages it can be brilliant. Getting there could be easier.

Currently, there seems to be more disarray than there used to be.

Perhaps it depends on what tasks you're trying to accomplish via middleware. In my case, it is primarily related to producing CSS using SASS, implementing new CSS features with fall-back polyfills, and minification.

Some old standbys for these tasks have recently blown up. Packages I previously used successfully are now broken due to their dependencies having been updated... or not. In one case I resorted to using the node_modules folder from a previous project so I could get some work done.