New false field in Package.json

Question

After updating to, npm 5.*I noticed a new field on package.json, which is really obscure and incomprehensible.

What does it mean ? false: {}

{
  "name": "test",
  "devDependencies": {},
  "dependencies": {},

  // What that means? What the goal?
  "false": {}
}

Answer 1

This was bug # 17141 at npm.

It was fixed in commit c3b586a on June 30th and was released in version 5.1.0 on July 5th.

The fix for those experiencing this is to simply update npm.

You can update by doing: npm install -g npm