Too many npm modules are installed after execute "npm install" - json

Question

My package.json:
{
"name": "thumbnaillist-gulp",
"version": "1.0.0",
"description": "",
"main": "index.js",
"scripts": {
"test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
},
"author": "",
"license": "ISC",
"dependencies": {
"browserify": "^12.0.1",
"gulp": "^3.9.0",
"gulp-concat": "^2.6.0",
"gulp-react": "^3.1.0",
"gulp-util": "^3.0.7",
"react": "^0.13.3",
"react-script-loader": "0.0.1",
"reactify": "^1.1.1",
"vinyl-source-stream": "^1.1.0",
"watchify": "^3.6.1"
}
}
The weird thing is that after I execute "npm install", besides the modules listed in the dependencies field, other modules are also installed, such as
drwxr-xr-x 14 xxx wheel 476B Nov 18 18:41 acorn
drwxr-xr-x 7 xxx wheel 238B Nov 18 18:41 amdefine
drwxr-xr-x 6 xxx wheel 204B Nov 18 18:41 ansi-green
drwxr-xr-x 6 xxx wheel 204B Nov 18 18:41 ansi-regex
drwxr-xr-x 6 xxx wheel 204B Nov 18 18:41 ansi-styles
drwxr-xr-x 6 xxx wheel 204B Nov 18 18:41 ansi-wrap
drwxr-xr-x 6 xxx wheel 204B Nov 18 18:41 anymatch
drwxr-xr-x 9 xxx wheel 306B Nov 18 18:41 archy
drwxr-xr-x 6 xxx wheel 204B Nov 18 18:41 arr-diff
drwxr-xr-x 6 xxx wheel 204B Nov 18 18:41 arr-flatten
drwxr-xr-x 5 xxx wheel 170B Nov 18 18:41 array-differ
drwxr-xr-x 8 xxx wheel 272B Nov 18 18:41 array-filter
drwxr-xr-x 9 xxx wheel 306B Nov 18 18:41 array-map
drwxr-xr-x 9 xxx wheel 306B Nov 18 18:41 array-reduce
drwxr-xr-x 6 xxx wheel 204B Nov 18 18:41 array-slice
drwxr-xr-x 5 xxx wheel 170B Nov 18 18:41 array-uniq
drwxr-xr-x 6 xxx wheel 204B Nov 18 18:41 array-unique
drwxr-xr-x 6 xxx wheel 204B Nov 18 18:41 arrify
drwxr-xr-x 8 xxx wheel 272B Nov 18 18:41 asn1.js
drwxr-xr-x 10 xxx wheel 340B Nov 18 18:41 assert
drwxr-xr-x 10 xxx wheel 340B Nov 18 18:41 ast-types
drwxr-xr-x 9 xxx wheel 306B Nov 18 18:41 astw
drwxr-xr-x 9 xxx wheel 306B Nov 18 18:41 async-each
drwxr-xr-x 11 xxx wheel 374B Nov 18 18:41 balanced-match
drwxr-xr-x 8 xxx wheel 272B Nov 18 18:41 base62
drwxr-xr-x 9 xxx wheel 306B Nov 18 18:41 base64-js
drwxr-xr-x 6 xxx wheel 204B Nov 18 18:41 beeper
drwxr-xr-x 6 xxx wheel 204B Nov 18 18:41 binary-extensions
drwxr-xr-x 10 xxx wheel 340B Nov 18 18:41 bn.js
drwxr-xr-x 7 xxx wheel 238B Nov 18 18:41 brace-expansion
drwxr-xr-x 7 xxx wheel 238B Nov 18 18:41 braces
drwxr-xr-x 7 xxx wheel 238B Nov 18 18:41 brorand
drwxr-xr-x 13 xxx wheel 442B Nov 18 18:41 browser-pack
drwxr-xr-x 7 xxx wheel 238B Nov 18 18:41 browser-resolve
drwxr-xr-x 12 xxx wheel 408B Nov 18 18:41 browserify
drwxr-xr-x 17 xxx wheel 578B Nov 18 18:41 browserify-aes
drwxr-xr-x 8 xxx wheel 272B Nov 18 18:41 browserify-cipher
drwxr-xr-x 7 xxx wheel 238B Nov 18 18:41 browserify-des
drwxr-xr-x 8 xxx wheel 272B Nov 18 18:41 browserify-rsa
drwxr-xr-x 16 xxx wheel 544B Nov 18 18:41 browserify-sign
drwxr-xr-x 8 xxx wheel 272B Nov 18 18:41 browserify-zlib
drwxr-xr-x 11 xxx wheel 374B Nov 18 18:41 buffer
drwxr-xr-x 11 xxx wheel 374B Nov 18 18:41 buffer-xor
Any hint on this? Is my NPM broken? Or I did not write a package.json in a correct way.

Answer 1

No there's nothing wrong, NPM now installs all dependencies to the root modules folder unless there is a version conflict. All those other modules you are seeing are dependencies of the modules you installed.
From the NPM 3.0.0 release notes:
Your dependencies will now be installed maximally flat. Insofar as is possible, all of your dependencies, and their dependencies, and THEIR dependencies will be installed in your project's node_modules folder with no nesting. You'll only see modules nested underneath one another when two (or more) modules have conflicting dependencies.

Answer 2

I hope Alexander O'Mara answer is helpful for you If you still want or for those who want to use dependencies like older version
you can use
npm install --legacy-bundling
If you always want use
npm set legacy-bundling=true
and use can run as usual
npm install