The first edition of Node.js in Action was about web development with a particular focus on the Connect and Express web frameworks. Node.js in Action, Second Edition has been updated to suit the changing requirements of Node development. You’ll learn about front-end build systems, popular Node web frameworks, and how to build a web application with Express from scratch. You’ll also learn how to create automated tests and deploy Node web applications.

Node is being increasingly used for command-line developer tools and desktop applications with Electron, so you’ll find chapters dedicated to both of these areas.

This book assumes you’re familiar with basic programming concepts. The first chapter provides an overview of JavaScript and ES2015 for those of you who haven’t yet discovered the joys of modern JavaScript.

Roadmap

This book is organized into three parts.

Part 1 provides an introduction to Node.js, teaching the fundamental techniques needed to develop with it. Chapter 1 explains the characteristics of JavaScript and Node and steps through example code. Chapter 2 guides you through fundamental Node.js programming concepts. Chapter 3 is a full tutorial on how to build a web application from scratch.

Part 2, the largest section of the book, focuses on web application development. Chapter 4 dispels some of the mystery around front-end build systems: if you’ve ever had to use webpack or Gulp in a project but didn’t really understand it, this is the chapter for you. Chapter 5 reviews some of the most popular server-side frameworks available for Node, and chapter 6 goes into Connect and Express in more depth. Chapter 7 is dedicated to templating languages, which can improve your productivity when writing server-side code. Most web applications need a database, so chapter 8 covers the many types of databases that you can use with Node, from relational to NoSQL. Chapters 9 and 10 deal with testing and deployment, and this includes cloud deployment.

Part 3 goes beyond web application development. Chapter 11 is about building command-line applications with Node so you can create developer-friendly text interfaces. If you’re excited about the prospect of building desktop apps such as Atom with Node, then take a look at chapter 12, which is all about Electron.

Alex R. Young, a writer and web developer, blogs regularly about JavaScript at DailyJS where you'll find several series on Node and client-side JavaScript. Alex speaks at JavaScript events around the UK.

Bradley Meck is a Node.js contributor, with lots of operational experience from load balancing to systems design. Has used Linux / BSD in production and dev ops.

Mike Cantelon is a web programmer with 10 years of experience in bespoke and product-oriented web application development

Tim Oxley is a JavaScript, React, WebVR & NodeJS developer and contributor. He is a founder of @campjsnews & SingaporeJS.

Marc Harter is a passionate JavaScript developer with deep experience in event-style programming. He works daily on large scale projects including high availability real-time applications, streaming interfaces, and other data intensive systems.

T.J. Holowaychuk is a prolific open-source engineer who has backed Node since its infancy. He has also authored many robust Node.js modules, including the popular Express web framework, Cluster, Stylus, and Jade, among many others.

Nathan Rajlich is an active Node developer who has been working with Node since its early days. He has authored an impressive collection of Node modules including NodObjC and maintains a port of Node that runs on Apple's iOS.