Preface

Like many people working with Express, I started out as an accidental front-end web developer. I was trying to add dynamic content to a website and hacked together some of the worst jQuery code this world has ever seen. After many years, my code became less and less embarrassing as I became more and more competent as a JavaScript web developer.

A lot of web developers were excited by the prospect of Node.js. Being able to write JavaScript on the server meant that our abilities would grow without having to lift a finger; it seemed, once we learned how to write front-end web applications, we’d know how to write back-end web servers. While we did have to lift a few fingers, this promise turned out to be closer to true than false. We were able to do a comparatively small amount of work to write full-stack web applications, and that was a true blessing.

Express came on the scene as an easier way to write Node.js web applications, and I was hooked. After using it at work, I started using it at home for my personal projects. I wrote a tutorial called “Understanding Express.js,” which did a run-through of the framework at a conceptual level. This post was picked up on various JavaScript news sites and it’s among the most popular posts on my website. A fantastic fluke!

The flukes continued when Manning Publications approached me and asked me to write a full book about Express. These words are evidence that I said yes!