Node.js in Practice

Just started into this book, as a seasoned developer in other languages, and so opened up my WebStorm evaluation editor and started coding in Chapter 1, the example in the book. I had an issue getting it going, and admittedly am a bit light in my Javascript method inheritence, so when I got an error running the node program, and being unsure of myself, I was stuck.It was very refreshing to look in the front of the book, find the information about the Google blog for the book and be able to post a message to ask for help. What really was impressive, is to have the author Alex get back to me within a few hours. Wow!(The problem was "my bad", and was an obvious omission/mistake on my part in entering the code), the code printed in the book was correct.Fixed it, and the example worked like a charm. Chapter 1, behind me I amlooking forward to working my way through the rest of the text, and learned a lot (like about streams in NodeJS) just by typing int the first example.This is not a beginner's book, but for me, this is a great way to get your hands on the code, quickly and I learn best by keying in code and gaining confidence and stepping through code (versus just reading). Thanks Alex!

Good examples and explanation.

It's 2020 now, things have changed a lot about Node.js and especially Javascript. So why read a book written 6 years ago with out-date syntax and even quite a few errors?I don't want to reason it with dull points 1,2,3, but rather tell you my own experience.{My background: I've just finished Headfirst HTML&CSS, Headfirst Javascript, and Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja (Second Edition). [By the way, the Ninja book is extremely awesome! Can’t praise it more! It will clear almost all of your confusion when dealing with Javascript and make you truly understand why code is written the way it is written in when you are seeing source code of those popular modules you are using daily.]}When you browse through Node.js books on Amazon, most highly-rated books are staying at a superficial HOW TO level. They teach you mature routines (solutions) for dealing with recent problems and how to work nicely with recently popular tech stacks. And they are good books if you just want to pick up and running. However, in those books, since they are more project-based, your knowledge will be more organized around high-level problems and the knowledge of Node.js itself will be fragmented and disordered.This book goes in another direction, it explores deeply into fundamental building blocks of Node.js and most of its examples are much much more low-level. Even too low-level that when I was reading, I questioned myself many times about whether we really need to go this deep and build all those wheels by ourselves when there are so many ready-to-use modules out there. I got more and more confused about whether I should dive deeply into techniques given in the book since things like implementing your own reading and writing streams don’t seem to be so practical when many libraries can handle that.So I quit the book after finishing part 1 [Node fundamentals which explain deeply about Globals, Buffers, Events, Streams, File system, Networking, Child precesses] (I just cheated by skimming on the last 3 chapters as I really lost the patient to go further any more).Even though there are many great techniques like dealing with modules (yeah, as a beginner, that’s the most practical one), most techniques mentioned in this book are just too low-level to be practical. So the moment I quit the book, I was thinking that maybe I’d just designed a wrong learning path, and maybe I should really get my hands dirty and learn some superficial HOW-TO knowledge before I deal with anything with low-level fundamental stuff like this. I should never be a miserable theory nerd again.So I head in another direction. I go to explore freely on GitHub, peeking source code, exploring, and playing with fancy npm modules like there’s no tomorrow.And that’s where the magic shows.I seem to be installed with an X-ray module in my mind so that when I was reading source codes and learning how to use those apparently drastically different modules, I just see through their guise and think directly into their utilization of core Node.js modules handling with events, buffers, streams, file system and so on. Their design and their usage just seem so natural that there is literally no effort and pain when learning and dealing with another popular library based on Node.js.That's why I came back excitedly to write a review and praise this book.Even though the process of reading this book is not so fun, the result is definitely rewarding.I can’t speak for those experts, but if you are a beginner like me, you can definitely gain A LOT by just skimming the book.Suggestions about how to read the book as a beginner: The book is written 6 years ago, and Javascript has added many great new features like class, promise, async, arrow function along the way which are just not there when the author wrote the book. So you will see a lot of seemly cumbersome code dealing with inheritance, asynchrony, and so on. Those codes can serve as a great source for you to appreciate how nice Javascript is now, but they are not so practical and fun to be used in 2020. And there are many detailed code examples dealing with low-level things that you don’t need to dive so deeply into when you are just starting.So my suggestion for reading is1. Skim part 1 of the book to gain basic theoretical knowledge of core modules in node.js.2. When you encounter code, scan, and extract a high-level structure and pattern of them. No need to reason so deeply in the usage since many of them are pretty out-dated tricks dealing with correct inheritance and scope issues. (You can think about how to replace many cumbersome parts with new ES6, ES7, ES8… features as an exercise).That’s it! Then you can go to explore many fancy npm modules with your X-ray module installed and maybe learn some HOW-TO knowledge for using Node.js to solve some interesting high-level problems before you came back to this book and dive deeper again.Happy learning!

I have had a long-term, love-ignore relationship with Node.js. I have taken Node classes, read Node books, and tinkered with Node programming both on Windows and Linux machines. Sometimes I have loved working with Node.js. Other times, I have ignored it for months at a stretch while I rush around trying out other choices and development distractions.Node.js in Practice is aimed at intermediate Node.js programmers and even advanced Node.js programmers. There is some awareness that beginners also may be reading this book. So the authors start by explaining Node from the standpoint of "what it is, how it works, and why it's something you can't live without." Then they quickly recommend that Node newcomers should put this book aside for now and read another good, but more basic, how-to book first: Node.js in Action.In Node.js in Practice, the learning curve can start getting steep fairly quickly, especially for those of us who have worked somewhat superficially with Node in web projects that also involve other software (such as the MEAN stack: MongoDB, Express and AngularJS, plus Node). Fortunately, the authors, Alex Young and Marc Harter, take a very focused, three-part approach that keeps Node.js centered in the spotlight and promotes deeper understanding.Part One focuses on "Node's core fundamentals" and "what's possible using only Node's core modules (no third-party modules)." Part Two moves into "real-world development recipes" and shows how to "master four highly applicable skills--testing, web development, debugging, and running Node in production." Some third-party modules also are introduced. Part Three, meanwhile, emphasizes "creating your own Node modules in a straightforward manner that ties in all kinds of ways to use npm commands for packaging, running, testing, benchmarking, and sharing modules. It also includes helpful tips on versioning projects effectively."The book offers "115 techniques...each module covering a specific Node.js topic or task, and each divided into practical Problem/Solution/Discussion sections." I really like this approach, and the illustrated discussions that accompany each short code example have been especially helpful for me.It has been a pleasure to upgrade to the latest version of Node.js recently and reconnect with it by using this new book. Despite my previous experience with Node.js, I see that I still have a lot to learn! My thanks to Manning for providing a review copy of Node.js in Practice.

The book is quite new, 2015. The book goes deep into the Node.js understanding, no stop on useless and bored node installations and dummy apps like in other books. It's required some previous Javascript background before read this book. Touch slightly topics like Express at the end of the book. If you are willing whether for a certification or just to become a pro in Node.js, this is the best selection. In the book doesn't have any reference to newer versions or ES6 syntax and Node 5.x.

Really great book. I had to learn nodejs very quickly, because I'm using it on a large project. The book goes straight to the point, and explains things thoroughly and in plain and easy-to-understand language.