About this Book
Node.js in Practice exists to provide readers a deeper understanding of Node’s core modules and packaging system. We believe this is foundational to being a productive and confident Node developer. Unfortunately, this small core is easily missed for the huge and vibrant third-party ecosystem with modules prebuilt for almost any task. In this book we go beyond regurgitating the official Node documentation in order to get practical and thorough. We want the reader to be able to dissect the inner workings of the third-party modules they include as well as the projects they write.
This book is not an entry-level Node book. For that, we recommend reading Manning’s Node.js In Action. This book is targeted at readers who already have experience working with Node and are looking to take it up a notch. Intermediate knowledge of JavaScript is recommended. Familiarity with the Windows, OS X, or Linux command line is also recommended.
In addition, we’re aware that many Node developers have come from a client-side JavaScript background. For that reason, we spend some time explaining less-familiar concepts such as working with binary data, how underlying networking and file systems work, and interacting with the host operating system—all using Node as a teaching guide.
This book is organized into three parts.
Part 1 covers Node’s core fundamentals, where we focus our attention on what’s possible using only Node’s core modules (no third-party modules). Chapter 1 recaps Node.js’s purpose and function. Then chapters 2 through 8 each cover in depth a different core aspect of Node from buffers to streams, networking to child processes.
Part 2 focuses on real-world development recipes. Chapters 9 through 12 will help you master four highly applicable skills—testing, web development, debugging, and running Node in production. In addition to Node core modules, these sections include the use of various third-party modules.
Part 3 guides you through creating your own Node modules in a straightforward manner that ties in all kinds of ways to use npm commands for packaging, running, testing, benchmarking, and sharing modules. It also includes helpful tips on versioning projects effectively.
There are 115 techniques in the book, each module covering a specific Node.js topic or task, and each divided into practical Problem/Solution/Discussion sections.
All source code in the book is in a fixed-width font like this, which sets it off from the surrounding text. In many listings, the code is annotated to point out the key concepts, and numbered bullets are sometimes used in the text to provide additional information about the code.
This book’s coding style is based on the Google JavaScript Style Guide.[1] That means we’ve put var statements on their own lines, used camelCase to format function and variable names, and we always use semicolons. Our style is a composite of the various JavaScript styles used in the Node community.
Most of the code shown in the book can be found in various forms in the sample source code that accompanies it. The sample code can be downloaded free of charge from the Manning website at www.manning.com/Node.jsinPractice, as well as from GitHub at the following link: https://github.com/alexyoung/nodeinpractice.
Purchase of Node.js in Practice includes free access to a private web forum run by Manning Publications where you can make comments about the book, ask technical questions, and receive help from the authors and from other users. To access the forum and subscribe to it, point your web browser to www.manning.com/Node.jsinPractice. This page provides information on how to get on the forum once you’re registered, what kind of help is available, and the rules of conduct on the forum.
The Author Online forum and the archives of previous discussions will be accessible from the publisher’s website as long as the book is in print.
You can also contact the authors at the following Google Group URL: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/nodejsinpractice.