# Where's my project's code hosted?

**URL:** <https://forum.dfinity.org/t/wheres-my-projects-code-hosted/30349>\
**Category:** Developers\
**Created:** [May 6, 2024, 9:07am UTC](https://forum.dfinity.org/t/wheres-my-projects-code-hosted/30349 "2024-05-06T09:07:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![marcpp](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.dfinity.org/marcpp/32/14921_2.png) [@marcpp](https://forum.dfinity.org/u/marcpp)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 9:07am UTC](https://forum.dfinity.org/t/wheres-my-projects-code-hosted/30349/1 "2024-05-06T09:07:01Z")

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Hello,  
I have a general knowledge question, likely easy to answer for veterans of this forum 🙂

When I used `dfx new` to generate my project, it created the following architecture:

```auto
myapp/
├─ node_modules/
├─ src/
│ ├─ declarations/
│ ├─ myapp_backend/
│ ├─ myapp_frontend/
│ │ ├─ node_modules/
│ │ ├─ src/
│ │ ├─ package.json
├─ .env
├─ package.json

```

When I run `npm install` within the `myapp_frontend` folder, it appears to install the packages in the root `node_modules` folder (right under myapp).

I don’t understand that and more generally, why do I need `node_modules` outside of my 2 canisters’ folders (`myapp_backend` and `myapp_frontend`) ? Will any code outside of those 2 folders get deployed when I run `dfx deploy` ? Maybe I’m misunderstanding how the IC works: if my app has 2 canisters, when I deploy them, are they grouped within some sort of single container or nah they’re just 2 independant containers that happen to work closely together ?

Thanks a lot and sorry if this is trivial.

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**Author:** ![NathanosDev](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.dfinity.org/nathanosdev/32/7204_2.png) [@NathanosDev](https://forum.dfinity.org/u/NathanosDev)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 10:58am UTC](https://forum.dfinity.org/t/wheres-my-projects-code-hosted/30349/2 "2024-05-06T10:58:32Z")

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The location of `node_modules` is a decision of NPM (or whatever other package manager you might be using) and not related to any IC-specific tech.

When you run `dfx deploy`, the flow that happens is different for asset canisters than it is for other “backend” canisters.

- The first few steps are a normal process for frontend development and not related to the IC:
  - First the frontend is built and output to a `dist` folder
  - The dependencies in `node_modules` are used to build the UI
  - Once the UI is built, anything necessary from `node_modules` is already included in the `dist` folder

- Now we get to the IC-specific steps:
  - The asset canister is deployed (this is like a special backend canister that is included with DFX)
  - The static assets from your `dist` folder are uploaded to the asset canister after it is deployed

The two canisters are deployed independently from one another.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![marcpp](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.dfinity.org/marcpp/32/14921_2.png) [@marcpp](https://forum.dfinity.org/u/marcpp)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 1:42pm UTC](https://forum.dfinity.org/t/wheres-my-projects-code-hosted/30349/3 "2024-05-06T13:42:34Z")

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> [@NathanosDev](#):
>
> normal process for frontend development

Thanks a lot for your answer. I think this was the missing part for me: I didn’t know that the frontend could be built with files outside of its folder. I know, sounds dumb, but now I know 😛