What is Node.JS?

The main components

Node.JS vs ASP.NET / PHP / Java

• Asynchronous IO
• The Event Loop

Let's check them out in action

Projects, Applications, and Companies Using Node​

So, when do I use Node.JS?

• Lot of I/O tasks
• Network tasks - Like fetching data from various web services
• Persistent Connections between client and server for example a chat application
• Real time applications - Stock market for example

Great! So when is using Node.JS not a good idea?

• Heavy computation
• Anything that takes large number of CPU cycles
• Simple HTML app

Working with Node.JS

• Installing Node.JS
• Installing VSCode
• Setting up package.json

Modules

• What are modules?
• Writing our very own module.
• Loading third party modules.

Creating an API

We'll create an API, that reads data from a JSON file, and outputs it based on the request. 

But before that, what is JSON?

{
  "menu": {
    "header": "SVG Viewer",
    "items": [
      {
        "id": "Open"
      },
      {
        "id": "OpenNew",
        "label": "Open New"
      },
      null,
      {
        "id": "ZoomIn",
        "label": "Zoom In"
      },
      {
        "id": "ZoomOut",
        "label": "Zoom Out"
      },
      {
        "id": "OriginalView",
        "label": "Original View"
      },
      null,
      {
        "id": "Quality"
      },
      {
        "id": "Pause"
      },
      {
        "id": "Mute"
      },
      null,
      {
        "id": "Find",
        "label": "Find..."
      },
      {
        "id": "FindAgain",
        "label": "Find Again"
      },
      {
        "id": "Copy"
      },
      {
        "id": "CopyAgain",
        "label": "Copy Again"
      },
      {
        "id": "CopySVG",
        "label": "Copy SVG"
      },
      {
        "id": "ViewSVG",
        "label": "View SVG"
      },
      {
        "id": "ViewSource",
        "label": "View Source"
      },
      {
        "id": "SaveAs",
        "label": "Save As"
      },
      null,
      {
        "id": "Help"
      },
      {
        "id": "About",
        "label": "About Adobe CVG Viewer..."
      }
    ]
  }
}

Reason for Node.JS' popularity

• Already existing knowledge of JavaScript
• Easy to learn
• Google's V8 support
• JavaScript everywhere
• Good documentation

Learning Node.JS

• NodeSchool
• Art of Node (Intermediate)
• Stackoverflow

Thank you!

Any Queries?