NodeJS Basics

What is node.js

Node.js is a powerful JavaScript runtime built on Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine. It's primarily used to build fast and scalable network applications.

Essential features of node.js

1. Node.js Installation and Setup: Understanding how to install Node.js and set up a development environment.
2. Understanding the Node.js Architecture: Unlike browser-based JavaScript, Node.js uses an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model that makes it lightweight and efficient. It's important to understand how this works.
3. Node.js Modules: Node.js has a modular architecture with a rich ecosystem. You should know how to use the require function to include modules in your application, and how to create your own modules using exports.
4. Built-in Modules: Node.js comes with several built-in modules, such as fs for file handling, http for HTTP requests, path for path manipulations, os for interacting with the operating system, etc.
5. Working with File System: Node.js provides a module called fs that provides an API for interacting with the file system in a manner closely modeled around standard POSIX functions.
6. Creating a HTTP Server: Using the http module to create HTTP server and client applications is one of the most fundamental uses of Node.js.
7. Understanding Events: Node.js is an event-driven architecture. Understanding event handling and the EventEmitter class is crucial.
8. Handling Data: This includes working with different data formats such as JSON, handling data streams, and working with databases.
9. Understanding Asynchronous Programming: Node.js heavily relies on asynchronous programming. It's essential to understand how asynchronous code works, and how to use callbacks, promises, and async/await in Node.js.
10. Express.js: It's not part of Node.js itself, but the Express.js framework is a very popular choice for web application development on top of Node.js.
11. NPM (Node Package Manager): NPM is the default package manager for Node.js, and it's essential to understand how to use it to install, update, and manage third-party packages.
12. Debugging and Testing: Understanding how to debug your Node.js applications using tools like the built-in Node.js debugger, Chrome DevTools, or Visual Studio Code, and how to write and run tests using frameworks like Mocha and Chai.
13. Error Handling: Understanding synchronous and asynchronous error handling.
14. Middleware: In frameworks like Express.js, middleware functions are functions that have access to the request object (req), the response object (res), and the next middleware function in the application’s request-response cycle.

Remember that learning Node.js is not just about understanding the language (JavaScript) but also about understanding the environment, the ecosystem, and the best practices for developing scalable network applications.