You're reading from Node.js for Beginners A comprehensive guide to building efficient, full-featured web applications with Node.js

Product type Paperback

Published in May 2024

Publisher Packt

ISBN-13 9781803245171

Length 382 pages

Edition 1st Edition

Languages

JavaScript

Tools

Node.js

Concepts

Web Programming

Author (1):

Ulises Gascón

View More author details

Table of Contents (25) Chapters

Preface

1. Part 1: Node.js Overview and JavaScript Language FREE CHAPTER

2. Chapter 1: Introduction to Node.js

3. Chapter 2: Setting Up the Development Environment

4. Chapter 3: JavaScript Fundamentals

5. Chapter 4: Asynchronous Programming

6. Part 2: Node.js Ecosystem and Architecture

7. Chapter 5: Node.js Core Libraries

8. Chapter 6: External Modules and npm

9. Chapter 7: Event-Driven Architecture

10. Chapter 8: Testing in Node.js

11. Part 3: Web Application Fundamentals

12. Chapter 9: Handling HTTP and REST APIs

13. Chapter 10: Building Web Applications with Express

14. Part 4: Building Solid Web Applications with Node.js

15. Chapter 11: Building a Web Application Project from Scratch

16. Chapter 12: Data Persistence with MongoDB

17. Chapter 13: User Authentication and Authorization with Passport.js

18. Chapter 14: Error Handling in Node.js

19. Chapter 15: Securing Web Applications

20. Part 5: Mastering Node.js Deployment and Portability

21. Chapter 16: Deploying Node.js Applications

22. Chapter 17: Dockerizing a Node.js Application

23. Index

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24. Other Books You May Enjoy

Why is Node.js so popular?

The official definition of Node.js is very simple, but it doesn’t explain why Node.js has become so popular over time:

“Node.js® is an open-source, cross-platform JavaScript runtime environment.”

In Figure 1.1, we can see how the popularity of Node.js has been increasing over time, and even today, it is still growing fast.

Figure 1.1 – The interest in Node.js, generated using Google Trends

Next, let’s explore the main reasons why Node.js is so popular.

Lightweight and fast

Node.js is a lightweight and fast runtime based on the V8 JavaScript engine, which is the same engine that powers Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, among others. It is based on a single-thread architecture and event-driven model, which means that it doesn’t need to create a new thread for each request, as in other popular tools such as PHP. This is a huge advantage because the memory consumption is...