Node.js Essential Training: Web Servers, Tests, and Deployment

Deepen your essential knowledge of Node.js. Learn how to set up and communicate with web servers and test and deploy your Node.js apps.

Deepen your essential knowledge of Node.js. Node.js is a powerful tool for controlling servers and building web applications. This training course provides a strong foundation in those intermediate-level topics: working with web servers and testing and deploying applications. Instructor Alex Banks introduces the HTTP module for making HTTP requests and shows how to install and manage Node.js modules with the node package manager (npm). He also dives into WebSockets for real-time two-way communication between web servers and clients—and demos a chat application that puts it to good use. In the final chapter, he shows how to test and debug Node.js code and use available tooling to streamline common tasks, such as compiling and minification.

Introduction

• Go beyond the basics in Node
• What you should know
• Work with VSCode

1. The HTTP Module

• Make a request with the request method
• Make a request with the GET method
• Build a web server
• Create a file server
• Collect POST data

2. npm

• The package.json file
• Using minimist
• Using single-line-log
• Using tiny-timer
• Manage packages
• Work with global packages
• Link global packages

3. Web Servers

• File servers with serve
• Intro to Express
• Handling POST requests
• Handling DELETE requests
• Using Express Middleware

4. WebSockets

• Create a WebSocket
• Broadcast messages with WebSocket
• Create a WebSocket with Socket.IO
• Emit Socket.IO events

5. Node.js Testing

• Prepare for testing
• Use testing frameworks
• Write a test
• Write a test with a mock
• Test API routes
• Use code coverage

6. Automation and Deployment

• Using npm Scripts
• Using import statements
• Using Babel with Jest
• Using webpack
• Work with environment variables
• Debug with VSCode

Conclusion

• Next steps