What you need for this book
The basic requirement is to install Node.js and to have a programmer-oriented text editor. We will show you how to install everything that you need, all of which is open source software, easily downloaded from the web. The most important tool is the one between your ears.
The examples here were tested using Node.js v5.x and ECMA Script 2015 features are widely used.
Some chapters require the database engines, MySQL and MongoDB.
While Node.js supports cross-platform software development, some of the third-party modules require compilation from source code. This means that one must have C/C++ compiler tools and Python installed. The details are covered in Chapter 2, Setting up Node.js.
While this book is about developing web applications, it does not require you to have a web server. Node.js provides its own web server stack.
