Preface

The purpose of this book is to help .NET or Java developers make the leap to Node.js. You may have some web development experience, and perhaps you've written some browser-based JavaScript in the past. It might not be obvious why anyone would want to take JavaScript out of the browser and use it for server-side development. However, this is exactly what Node.js does. What's more, Node.js has been around for long enough now to have matured as a platform, and has sustained its impressive growth in popularity well beyond any period that could be attributed to initial hype over a new technology.

The first objective of this book then is to explain why Node.js is a compelling technology that's worth learning more about. The first few chapters introduce Node.js with this in mind, quickly get you up and running with Node.js, and provide an important (re) introduction to the JavaScript language to set you on the right track.

The main part of this book will then take you through a worked example of building up a Node.js web-application step by step. In the process, we'll illustrate all the important tools and techniques required for real-world development projects in Node.js. The aim is to make the most of your existing development expertise to allow you to quickly reach the same level of best practices and professionalism with Node.js.

The final chapters of the book show how to use Node.js for other purposes outside of web applications and how to continue learning Node.js and exploring the ecosystem around it. We'll also see how you can use Node.js alongside .NET and benefit from applying your programming skills across both technologies.