5 ms·

The Node Beginner Book, an introduction to Node.js, is now complete

314 points by ManuelKiessling 15y ago

jrubinovitz 15y ago
Excellent! I highly recommend this book if you're looking to get into Node.js.
sthejo 15y ago
Just in time as I was planning to dive head first into node. Thanks!
hezekiah 15y ago
Reading it now; excellent introduction! I'm what you might call an "experienced developer" - I've been writing code since I was a little kid typing in Basic games to an Apple II - but I still find this back-to-the-basics approach more helpful than the usual high-level intro. Thanks!
draz 15y ago
I've read the guide a few weeks ago, and it's absolutely great! I certainly learned a lot, and it saved me a lot of time Googling for answers. I think it would be a great addition to the book to discuss some of the frameworks that take Node.js to the next level: MVC (Express?), debugging, etc., and provide some examples. How does the author actually go about doing real-world projects? (I'm thinking along the lines of the Manning books that not only introduce a language, but also discuss plugins, etc) As a Java developer, I cannot imagine writing a website with "pure" Java vs. using a framework such as Struts 2, for example.
- ManuelKiessling 15y ago
  Hi, I'm the author. I would like to add much more relevant content to the book, but I need to be realistic about how much time I can spare for this currently. We will see how it works out.
  - hezekiah 15y ago
    You're a good writer, I think you should take it all the way to a full-size book, get O'Reilly to publish or self-publish on Amazon.
  - draz 15y ago
    Hi Manuel! I didnt mean for it to sound the wrong way, as if I'm ungrateful for the work you have done. As I've mentioned, it really is good, and it got me up and running and experimenting with Node.js quickly (for which I'm thankful for!). Maybe other people from HN can pick up the glove? Maybe a book deal with Manning/O'Reilly/Wrox (unless you're not interested in pursuing writing)? I was just reading the Google+ public "How-to" collaborative doc the internet community has been building (http://bit.ly/qg0Yf6 http://bit.ly/qg0Yf6). Maybe the Node.js guide should take this format and make it into a living manual?
    - ManuelKiessling 15y ago
      All cool, didn't sound the wrong way at all! I think "Hands-on Node.js" by Pedro Teixeira is the perfect "next read" when you're finished with NodeBeginner. Pedro and I have bundled our eBooks at Leanbundle.com, maybe that's interesting for you: http://leanbundle.com/bundles/node http://leanbundle.com/bundles/node
      - rawl 15y ago
        I actually bought the bundle! :) great work! PDFs and ePub looks great on my nook color.
        peterarmstrong 15y ago
        As a cofounder of Leanpub (which is where both books are published and sold) and LeanBundle (which sells the bundle), this makes me so happy to hear!
  - the_cat_kittles 15y ago
    Your technical writing is really phenomenal, you are able to communicate far more than just the hard and fast details in a really relateable way. I haven't seem many things that have adopted a voice like yours in the article, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope you keep writing.
hezekiah 15y ago
"Our plan was to allow users to upload an image file, and display the uploaded image in the browser. Back in the 90's this would have qualified as a business model for an IPO." Tru dat!
adamtulinius 15y ago
It's silly that the layout requires a width of 1280px because of the right column, when there's plenty of free space in the left column: http://oi54.tinypic.com/20a3xxc.jpg http://oi54.tinypic.com/20a3xxc.jpg (only offending areas shown :)
- ManuelKiessling 15y ago
  You're right, but I suck at CSS - any hints?
  - mnutt 15y ago
    The quickest and easiest thing to get you up and running might be a grid framework, like grid960 (960.gs) or blueprint (blueprintcss.org). Though off the top of my head, I can't think of a way that you could maintain your current layout but collapse the left column first.
GrooveStomp 15y ago
Color me interested. I only did a super short-and-quick scan, but it looked nice for newbs trying to get up to speed. My #1 hurdle to adopting server-side Javascript is the terrible, utterly lacking documentation for anything CommonJS related. If you've got any kind of reference for that stuff, then triple bonus points!
- jmhnilbog 15y ago
  Figuring out what CommonJS really is, and that it should be completely disregarded was difficult. 'module.exports' and 'require()' are the only relevant bits as far as I can tell.
- clyfe 15y ago
  http://www.commonjs.org/specs/ http://www.commonjs.org/specs/
- baudehlo 15y ago
  Node doesn't implement commonjs. So it should be ignored. It's similar, but different enough that you can ignore it completely.
traldan 15y ago
Great stuff when I worked through it a few weeks ago. That bundled deal looks very tempting!
ansy 15y ago
I read this book and the Hands-on Node.js book by Pedro Teixeira of NodeTuts. I have to say, while The Node Beginner Books is a tremendous effort that deserves congratulations, I did learn more from buying Hands-on Node.js for those interested. Granted, Hands-on Node.js costs $6 versus Beginner's free. But in my opinion it's worth it. And a sizable portion of Hands-on Node.js is free in a sample download which I what I started with before deciding to buy it. http://nodetuts.com/handson-nodejs-book.html http://nodetuts.com/handson-nodejs-book.html
- peterarmstrong 15y ago
  FYI: you can buy both those books (The Node Beginner Book and Hands-on Node.js) as a bundle for only $7.99 at http://leanbundle.com/bundles/node http://leanbundle.com/bundles/node. Buying the bundle gets you both books on Leanpub as well, so you get free updates for as long as they're updated on Leanpub.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
pshirishreddy 15y ago
Always wanted to know what is it about node.js, I hope now the quest would be complete :)
pshirishreddy 15y ago
I was just lurking over the book written by douglas crockford, Javascript: The good parts and today I find this..Thank you.
satoimo 15y ago
Sure it's just sample code, but I spilled my coffee when I saw this: function sleep(milliSeconds) { var startTime = new Date().getTime(); while (new Date().getTime() < startTime + milliSeconds); } Someone likes feeding the garbage collector.
- ManuelKiessling 15y ago
  Did you see that it's just code to demonstrate blocking, i.e., to demonstrate how to NOT do it?

jrubinovitz 15y ago

Excellent! I highly recommend this book if you're looking to get into Node.js.

sthejo 15y ago

Just in time as I was planning to dive head first into node. Thanks!

hezekiah 15y ago

Reading it now; excellent introduction! I'm what you might call an "experienced developer" - I've been writing code since I was a little kid typing in Basic games to an Apple II - but I still find this back-to-the-basics approach more helpful than the usual high-level intro. Thanks!

draz 15y ago

I've read the guide a few weeks ago, and it's absolutely great! I certainly learned a lot, and it saved me a lot of time Googling for answers. I think it would be a great addition to the book to discuss some of the frameworks that take Node.js to the next level: MVC (Express?), debugging, etc., and provide some examples. How does the author actually go about doing real-world projects? (I'm thinking along the lines of the Manning books that not only introduce a language, but also discuss plugins, etc) As a Java developer, I cannot imagine writing a website with "pure" Java vs. using a framework such as Struts 2, for example.

ManuelKiessling 15y ago
Hi, I'm the author. I would like to add much more relevant content to the book, but I need to be realistic about how much time I can spare for this currently. We will see how it works out.
- hezekiah 15y ago
  You're a good writer, I think you should take it all the way to a full-size book, get O'Reilly to publish or self-publish on Amazon.
- draz 15y ago
  Hi Manuel! I didnt mean for it to sound the wrong way, as if I'm ungrateful for the work you have done. As I've mentioned, it really is good, and it got me up and running and experimenting with Node.js quickly (for which I'm thankful for!). Maybe other people from HN can pick up the glove? Maybe a book deal with Manning/O'Reilly/Wrox (unless you're not interested in pursuing writing)? I was just reading the Google+ public "How-to" collaborative doc the internet community has been building (http://bit.ly/qg0Yf6 http://bit.ly/qg0Yf6). Maybe the Node.js guide should take this format and make it into a living manual?
  - ManuelKiessling 15y ago
    All cool, didn't sound the wrong way at all! I think "Hands-on Node.js" by Pedro Teixeira is the perfect "next read" when you're finished with NodeBeginner. Pedro and I have bundled our eBooks at Leanbundle.com, maybe that's interesting for you: http://leanbundle.com/bundles/node http://leanbundle.com/bundles/node
    - rawl 15y ago
      I actually bought the bundle! :) great work! PDFs and ePub looks great on my nook color.
      - peterarmstrong 15y ago
        As a cofounder of Leanpub (which is where both books are published and sold) and LeanBundle (which sells the bundle), this makes me so happy to hear!
- the_cat_kittles 15y ago
  Your technical writing is really phenomenal, you are able to communicate far more than just the hard and fast details in a really relateable way. I haven't seem many things that have adopted a voice like yours in the article, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope you keep writing.

hezekiah 15y ago

"Our plan was to allow users to upload an image file, and display the uploaded image in the browser. Back in the 90's this would have qualified as a business model for an IPO." Tru dat!

adamtulinius 15y ago

It's silly that the layout requires a width of 1280px because of the right column, when there's plenty of free space in the left column: http://oi54.tinypic.com/20a3xxc.jpg http://oi54.tinypic.com/20a3xxc.jpg (only offending areas shown :)

ManuelKiessling 15y ago
You're right, but I suck at CSS - any hints?
- mnutt 15y ago
  The quickest and easiest thing to get you up and running might be a grid framework, like grid960 (960.gs) or blueprint (blueprintcss.org). Though off the top of my head, I can't think of a way that you could maintain your current layout but collapse the left column first.

GrooveStomp 15y ago

Color me interested. I only did a super short-and-quick scan, but it looked nice for newbs trying to get up to speed. My #1 hurdle to adopting server-side Javascript is the terrible, utterly lacking documentation for anything CommonJS related. If you've got any kind of reference for that stuff, then triple bonus points!

jmhnilbog 15y ago
Figuring out what CommonJS really is, and that it should be completely disregarded was difficult. 'module.exports' and 'require()' are the only relevant bits as far as I can tell.
clyfe 15y ago
http://www.commonjs.org/specs/ http://www.commonjs.org/specs/
baudehlo 15y ago
Node doesn't implement commonjs. So it should be ignored. It's similar, but different enough that you can ignore it completely.

traldan 15y ago

Great stuff when I worked through it a few weeks ago. That bundled deal looks very tempting!

ansy 15y ago

I read this book and the Hands-on Node.js book by Pedro Teixeira of NodeTuts. I have to say, while The Node Beginner Books is a tremendous effort that deserves congratulations, I did learn more from buying Hands-on Node.js for those interested. Granted, Hands-on Node.js costs $6 versus Beginner's free. But in my opinion it's worth it. And a sizable portion of Hands-on Node.js is free in a sample download which I what I started with before deciding to buy it. http://nodetuts.com/handson-nodejs-book.html http://nodetuts.com/handson-nodejs-book.html

peterarmstrong 15y ago
FYI: you can buy both those books (The Node Beginner Book and Hands-on Node.js) as a bundle for only $7.99 at http://leanbundle.com/bundles/node http://leanbundle.com/bundles/node. Buying the bundle gets you both books on Leanpub as well, so you get free updates for as long as they're updated on Leanpub.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

pshirishreddy 15y ago

Always wanted to know what is it about node.js, I hope now the quest would be complete :)

pshirishreddy 15y ago

I was just lurking over the book written by douglas crockford, Javascript: The good parts and today I find this..Thank you.

satoimo 15y ago

Sure it's just sample code, but I spilled my coffee when I saw this: function sleep(milliSeconds) { var startTime = new Date().getTime(); while (new Date().getTime() < startTime + milliSeconds); } Someone likes feeding the garbage collector.

ManuelKiessling 15y ago
Did you see that it's just code to demonstrate blocking, i.e., to demonstrate how to NOT do it?