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The Node Beginner Book

121 points by v33ra 14y ago

debacle 14y ago
It's been difficult to "learn" node. Because the libraries have changed drastically in the last 2-3 years, many guides are out of date. You can learn the basics through trial and error and the docs, but you can't learn best practices, which are important if you're trying to write software that other people will use (OSS). I've read through this guide before, and it's okay, but it's not really all that good at defining best practices, and in fact in some places the code isn't very good, but Manuel fully admits this in a few places. If you don't already know JavaScript, or only know a little, this is probably a good place to start, but if you're already fluent in JS and have used server-side JS a bit in the past (whether through Rhino, sm, v8, whatever), it's probably not a very useful guide. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of good resources out there - the language is very new and the library of current and available knowledge is not very large. I haven't checked out the Node Cookbook yet, but do plan to in the future. Until then, to really get a good knowledge of some of the APIs you still have to do a bit of trailblazing.
- pc86 14y ago
  I wondering this while reading the introductory paragraphs. While I will keep the bookmark, it's good to know that I may need to reference the documentation a little more than I might for other frameworks.
  - debacle 14y ago
    On the plus side, the docs tend to be pretty good. There's always a bit of trial-and-error, though.
- ManuelKiessling 14y ago
  > Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of good resources out there [...] I think that really changed from back in the days when I wrote The Node Beginner Book. For example "Professional Node.js" has been published some weeks ago: http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Node-js-Building-Javascript-Scalable/dp/1118185463/ http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Node-js-Building-Javascri... Full disclosure: I did the technical editing for this book, thus I'm highly biased. However, it was a pleasure to receive the single chapters from Pedro Teixeira, the author. It really teached me a lot while working on them. I honestly think it is a wonderful book, and one that Node.js deserves now that it matures.
jongold 14y ago
I read it a few months ago; good at what it professes to be - a quick guide for beginners. Definitely worth reading and got me over the first few learning hurdles of Node.
calebhc 14y ago
Thanks for posting. Maybe this will finally get me to actually start playing/learning node. :)
geetarista 14y ago
Has anybody noticed that the entire book is actually loaded into the page? All you have to do is remove the "hiddenhalf" ID from that div and you can see everything.
- wingspan 14y ago
  Or just click the link below the buy button that says "Continue reading the free version", which just removes the hiddenhalf div.
usmanity 14y ago
This is great for starting out with node, any recommendations on a more advanced node book?
ph0rcyas 14y ago
'Up and Running with Node.js' is a much better book: http://ofps.oreilly.com/titles/9781449398583/index.html http://ofps.oreilly.com/titles/9781449398583/index.html And seriously, before jumping into node one needs to know some javascript. Haverbeke's 'Eloquent Javascript' and Resig's 'Secrets of the JS Ninja' will provide a starting point. They're one of these rare books you thought 'boy, I wished it was longer...'. 'Up and Running with Node.js''s code aren't thoroughly polished yet (eg.chapter 2), but plenty people refined and posted them on StackOverflow.
superbaconman 14y ago
This article was actually the tutorial I used to get into node.js. I learnt a lot, but I still don't feel like I could write anything really good using just this info. Usually after articles like this (no matter how good) you just need to dive into the docs to expand your knowledge. It seems like there's just so much to it.
mitchi 14y ago
NICE TUTORIAL
bpedro 14y ago
Great stuff. Keep up with the good work!

121 points by v33ra 14y ago

It's been difficult to "learn" node. Because the libraries have changed drastically in the last 2-3 years, many guides are out of date. You can learn the basics through trial and error and the docs, but you can't learn best practices, which are important if you're trying to write software that other people will use (OSS). I've read through this guide before, and it's okay, but it's not really all that good at defining best practices, and in fact in some places the code isn't very good, but Manuel fully admits this in a few places. If you don't already know JavaScript, or only know a little, this is probably a good place to start, but if you're already fluent in JS and have used server-side JS a bit in the past (whether through Rhino, sm, v8, whatever), it's probably not a very useful guide. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of good resources out there - the language is very new and the library of current and available knowledge is not very large. I haven't checked out the Node Cookbook yet, but do plan to in the future. Until then, to really get a good knowledge of some of the APIs you still have to do a bit of trailblazing.

pc86 14y ago
I wondering this while reading the introductory paragraphs. While I will keep the bookmark, it's good to know that I may need to reference the documentation a little more than I might for other frameworks.
- debacle 14y ago
  On the plus side, the docs tend to be pretty good. There's always a bit of trial-and-error, though.
ManuelKiessling 14y ago
> Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of good resources out there [...] I think that really changed from back in the days when I wrote The Node Beginner Book. For example "Professional Node.js" has been published some weeks ago: http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Node-js-Building-Javascript-Scalable/dp/1118185463/ http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Node-js-Building-Javascri... Full disclosure: I did the technical editing for this book, thus I'm highly biased. However, it was a pleasure to receive the single chapters from Pedro Teixeira, the author. It really teached me a lot while working on them. I honestly think it is a wonderful book, and one that Node.js deserves now that it matures.

jongold 14y ago

I read it a few months ago; good at what it professes to be - a quick guide for beginners. Definitely worth reading and got me over the first few learning hurdles of Node.

calebhc 14y ago

Thanks for posting. Maybe this will finally get me to actually start playing/learning node. :)

geetarista 14y ago

Has anybody noticed that the entire book is actually loaded into the page? All you have to do is remove the "hiddenhalf" ID from that div and you can see everything.

wingspan 14y ago
Or just click the link below the buy button that says "Continue reading the free version", which just removes the hiddenhalf div.

usmanity 14y ago

This is great for starting out with node, any recommendations on a more advanced node book?

ph0rcyas 14y ago

'Up and Running with Node.js' is a much better book: http://ofps.oreilly.com/titles/9781449398583/index.html http://ofps.oreilly.com/titles/9781449398583/index.html And seriously, before jumping into node one needs to know some javascript. Haverbeke's 'Eloquent Javascript' and Resig's 'Secrets of the JS Ninja' will provide a starting point. They're one of these rare books you thought 'boy, I wished it was longer...'. 'Up and Running with Node.js''s code aren't thoroughly polished yet (eg.chapter 2), but plenty people refined and posted them on StackOverflow.

superbaconman 14y ago

This article was actually the tutorial I used to get into node.js. I learnt a lot, but I still don't feel like I could write anything really good using just this info. Usually after articles like this (no matter how good) you just need to dive into the docs to expand your knowledge. It seems like there's just so much to it.

mitchi 14y ago

NICE TUTORIAL

bpedro 14y ago

Great stuff. Keep up with the good work!