Can you explain what is meant by a library in programming?

In programming, a library is a collection of ready-made functions, classes, and modules that can be used in your code to solve common tasks. It helps avoid writing everything from scratch by using already tested and optimized code. For example, in Node.js, a library can provide functions for working with files, network requests, or databases.

Example of using a library in Node.js:

const fs = require('fs'); // include the library for working with the file system

fs.readFile('example.txt', 'utf8', (err, data) => {
  if (err) throw err;
  console.log(data);
});

Here, fs is a built-in library that simplifies working with files.