Check synchronously if file/directory exists in Node.js

Question

How can I synchronously check, using node.js, if a file or directory exists?

Answer 1

Another Update

Needing an answer to this question myself I looked up the node docs, seems you should not be using fs.exists, instead use fs.open and use outputted error to detect if a file does not exist:

from the docs:

fs.exists() is an anachronism and exists only for historical reasons. There should almost never be a reason to use it in your own code.

In particular, checking if a file exists before opening it is an anti-pattern that leaves you vulnerable to race conditions: another process may remove the file between the calls to fs.exists() and fs.open(). Just open the file and handle the error when it's not there.

http://nodejs.org/api/fs.html#fs_fs_exists_path_callback