Module 1 - Node.js & Express
Objectives
Traditionally, developers only used the JavaScript language in web browsers. But, in 2009, Node.js was unveiled, and with it, the developer tool kit expanded greatly. Node.js gave developers the chance to use JavaScript to write software that, up to that point, could only be written using C, C++, Java, Python, Ruby, C#, and the like.
We will use Node to write server code. Specifically, web services that communicate with clients using the JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format for data interchange.
Advantages of Node.js
- Node.js uses the same programming language (JavaScript) and paradigm for both client and server. Using the same language, we minimize context switching and share code between the client and the server.
- JavaScript is single-threaded, which removes the complexity involved in handling multiple threads.
- JavaScript is asynchronous, which allows us to take full advantage of the processor it's running on. Taking full advantage of the processor is crucial because the node process will be running on a single CPU.
- Using JavaScript gives us access to the npm repository. This repository is the largest ecosystem of valuable libraries (most free to use) in npm modules.