1 Practical Application

 

This chapter covers

  • Getting started with a Node app
  • Reading user input on the command line
  • Writing data to a CSV

Whether you are new to programming or a seasoned engineer, you probably opened this chapter to get started with Node already. Many Node projects span thousands of lines of code, but some of the most useful and practical applications can be written in only a handful of lines. Let’s skip the part where you get overwhelmed and jump into the practical application.

In this chapter, you’ll get a first glance at what Node can offer out of the box and off the grid. You will learn to build a simple program that can run on anyone’s computer and save real people real time and money. By the end of the chapter, you’ll have Node locked and loaded on your computer, with a development environment ready to build, practically, anything.

Tools & applications used in this chapter

Before you get started, you’ll need to install and configure the following tools and applications that are used in this project. Detailed instructions are provided for you in the specified appendix. When you’ve finished, return here and continue.

  • Appendix A.1.2 Installing VS Code
  • Appendix A.1.3 Installing Node

1.1 Your prompt

1.1.1 Get planning

1.1.2 Get programming

1.2 Translating user input to CSV

1.3 Working with external packages

1.4 Summary