The hello world example won't build

[AlainReve]

I'm trying to follow the tutorial here :
cordova.apache.org/docs/en/latest/guide/cli/index.html

When I type :
cordova create hello com.example.hello HelloWorld

It says :
/usr/local/lib/node_modules/cordova/node_modules/nopt/lib/nopt-lib.js:64
const StringType = typeDefs.String?.type
^
SyntaxError: Unexpected token '.'
at wrapSafe (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:915:16)
at Module._compile (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:963:27)
at Object.Module._extensions..js (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:1027:10)
at Module.load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:863:32)
at Function.Module._load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:708:14)
at Module.require (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:887:19)
at require (internal/modules/cjs/helpers.js:74:18)
at Object. (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/cordova/node_modules/nopt/lib/nopt.js:1:
at Module._compile (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:999:30)
at Object.Module._extensions..js (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:1027:10)

The file nopt-lib.js looks normal, as far as I can tell.

[breautek]

Not sure if the formatting is correct, it's likely erroring on ?. syntax, which suggest that you're using a NodeJS version that doesn't have optional chaining support.

Can you run node -v to confirm your NodeJS version? The recommended version today is NodeJS 20.

[AlainReve]

I typed :
sudo apt install nodejs
It said :
nodejs is already the newest version (12.22.9~dfsg-1ubuntu3.3).
And :
node --version
Gave :
v12.22.9

So I don't understand. If the latest is version 20, why does my system tell me the newest version is 12.22.9 ? (I've done the update).

[AlainReve]

OK, the Ubuntu version was lagging behind.

The fix was to install NVM (multiple versions of node.js)

Ubuntu solution

First install curl. (NOT with "sudo snap install curl", this will cause failure later. Use "sudo apt install curl").
Then you type :
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.1/install.sh | bash
Then you close and reopen the terminal (or type the "export" etc. listed at the bottom of the shell).

nvm --help
starts by saying "Node Version Manager (v0.39.1)
Don't worry, this is the version of nvm, not the version of node.js.

Then you type :
nvm install node
This will install the latest version and make it default. I got node.js version 21.6.2.

Then the command :
cordova create hello com.example.hello HelloWorld funtioned!

Big thank you to breautek for pointing me in the right direction. It didn't cross my mind that the Ubuntu packages could be lagging behind the current version so much. I was really stuck.