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Whenever we start off with any technology the very first question that crosses your mind is, from where should you start? Now if you are new to Node.js and have same doubt regarding Node.js then you have stumbled across the right place. Through the medium of this article, I will draw a roadmap for you which will help you to learn Node.js along with a comprehensive list of best resources that will help you get up and running with Node.js.
Below is the overview of the roadmap I will be covering in this learn Node.js article:
So let’s get started.
Introduction to Node.js
Node.js is a powerful framework developed on Chrome’s V8 JavaScript engine which is one of the fastest JavaScript engine available in the market. It compiles JavaScript code directly into the native machine code which eventually results in higher efficiency of the applications built with Node.js. It is a lightweight framework and is heavily used for developing server-side web applications. It extends JavaScript API to offer usual server-side functionalities.
Because of better throughput and higher consistency, it is used for large-scale application development such as video streaming sites, single-page application, and other web applications. Node.js makes use of an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model which makes it a right pick for the data-intensive real-time applications.
Let’s now move further and learn Node.js history.
History and Release
Node.js was initially released in 2009 by Ryan Dahl. In a short span of 10 years, Node.js has rooted itself deep in the world of web application development. Before Node.js, JavaScript used to dominate this market and was flourishing well. But, what triggered the need for Node.js?
Well, as you might know, JavaScript is well versed when talking about client-side scripting but it failed miserably when it came to developing dynamic pages using server-side JavaScript. This is where Node.js flaunts its innovative features that help in programming in JavaScript on the server.
Below I have listed down the major releases and benchmarks seen in the history of Node.js.
| Year | Major MileStones, Releases, Additions |
| 2009 | Node.js is released in the market and the first version of npm is created. |
| 2010 | Express and Socket.io are introduced. |
| 2011 | npm’s version 1.0 is released and major companies like LinkedIn, Uber, etc start implementing Node.js in their production. Hapi is introduced in the market. |
| 2012 | Widespread of Node.js in the market. |
| 2013 | Big blogging platform like Ghost starts implementing Node.js. Koa is created. |
| 2014 | The Big Fork of Node.js which is io.js is released with the goal of introducing ES6 support and growing faster |
| 2015 | The Node.js Foundation is formed. io.js is merged back into Node.js and Node.js 4.0.0 is released. npm introduces a few private modules. |
| 2016 | Yarn is born along with Node.js 6 |
| 2017 | npm works for enhancing security in the modules. Node.js 8.0.0 is released. HTTP/2 was introduced. Node.js is introduced in the testing suite of V8 by officially making Node.js as a target for the JS engine, in addition to Chrome. npm modules hit 3 billion downloads every week. |
| 2018 | Node.js 10.0.0 is released on 24rth April 2018 along with ES modules .mjs experimental support. |
Now that you are familiar with the background and origin of Node.js, lets now move further and see what all you need to know before you learn Node.js.
Getting Started with Node.js: Learn Node.js
In order to learn Node.js, you must take the first step in the right direction. Below I have listed down the topics in order along with the sources which you can refer for mastering each of them.
1. Node.js Architecture
Node.js uses Single Threaded Event Loop Model Architecture which means all the client requests on Node.js are executed by a single thread. But this architecture is not just single-threaded, but event-driven as well which eventually helps Node.js in handling multiple clients concurrently.
2. Installing Node.js
Installing Node.js is the next step in the path to learning Node.js. It is one of the simplest processes where all you need to do is visit the Node.js Official Site and download the stable version of Node.js. But before you install, you need to make sure that you have sufficient space and your RAM is at least 4GB.
3. NPM (Node Package Manager)
Once you are done with the installation part, the next step is to learn about npm. NPM or Node Package Manager acts as the core of a Node.js application. It provides around 800,000+ prebuilt libraries which act as great tools for the Node.js developers and speeds up the complete application development process.
4. JSON File
JSON File is considered to be the heart of a Node.js application. This is the very first file which you need to create while working on a Node.js project. It is the manifest file that holds the metadata of the project. In other words, package.json file of your project is used for managing the dependencies used in the project along with the scripts, that are required for generating builds, running tests, etc.
5. Node.js Basics
This is the step, where you get your feet wet with Node.js scripting. In order to execute a simple ‘Hello World’ in Node.js, you need to have a basic understanding of the concepts like variables, data types, operators, functions, etc in JavaScript since Node.js is a JavaScript Framework. If you are completely new to JavaScript, then before you start with Node.js, you need to get a clear understanding of what is JavaScript.
6. File System
By the time you are done with the fundamentals of Node.js, you will be already done with creating and executing basics programs in Node.js. Now, your next step will be to read and write data into a file rather than on console. In order to access a physical file system, Node.js makes use of the fs module.
7. Events
Node.js is most popular for its event-driven applications. Node.js provides a events module, which you need to use for creating and handling custom events. Since Node.js application is based on a single-threaded and event-driven architecture, it supports concurrency.
8. HTTP Modules
Another functionality, for which Node.js is heavily used in the industry is for developing server-based applications. Using the http module, you can easily build a REST API with Node.js.
9. Frameworks
Writing code for each the function from the scratch each time you create a Node.js application is very time-consuming. Thus, Node.js provides, a number of frameworks which will help you in faster application development with better features. Below are a few of the most used Node.js frameworks:
10. Databases
By now, you will know how to develop a fully functional web application with Node.js. Now you need to gear up your application by a notch and store the data in a database. You can use any database according to your preference and need. To name a few:
11. Node with Docker
You will be needing Docker if you wish to make your application free of any environment dependencies. Docker is a containerization platform which is used for packaging an application and its dependencies together within a Docker container. This ensures the effortless and smooth functioning of our application irrespective of the changes in the environment. Thus, you can think of Docker as a tool that is designed to make the creation, deployment, and execution of applications using the containers easier and efficient.
With this, we come to the end of this article. I hope I was able to cover all the important points in the roadmap to learn Node.js. If you want to gain more insights on Node.js you can refer to my other articles on Node.js as well.
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Got a question for us? Please mention it in the comments section of this Learn Node.js and we will get back to you.
