Node.js Web Development

Build scalable web applications using Node.js, Express.js, and the latest ECMAScript techniques, along with deploying applications with AWS and Docker with this updated fifth edition

Key Features

• Learn backend web programming with the JavaScript stack
• Explore best practices, right from configuring and building web servers to deploying them on a production cloud hosting system: AWS using Docker and Terraform
• Work through the different stages of developing robust and scalable apps using Node.js 14

Book Description

Node.js is the leading choice of server-side web development platform, enabling developers to use the same tools and paradigms for both server-side and client-side software. This updated fifth edition of Node.js Web Development focuses on the new features of Node.js 14, Express 4.x, and ECMAScript, taking you through modern concepts, techniques, and best practices for using Node.js.

The book starts by helping you get to grips with the concepts of building server-side web apps with Node.js. You'll learn how to develop a complete Node.js web app, with a backend database tier to help you explore several databases. You'll deploy the app to real web servers, including a cloud hosting platform built on AWS EC2 using Terraform and Docker Swarm, while integrating other tools such as Redis and NGINX. As you advance, you'll learn about unit and functional testing, along with deploying test infrastructure using Docker. Finally, you'll discover how to harden Node.js app security, use Let's Encrypt to provision the HTTPS service, and implement several forms of app security with the help of expert practices. With each chapter, the book will help you put your knowledge into practice throughout the entire life cycle of developing a web app.

By the end of this Node.js book, you'll have gained practical Node.js web development knowledge and be able to build and deploy your own apps on a public web hosting solution.

What you will learn

• Install and use Node.js 14 and Express 4.17 for both web development and deployment
• Implement RESTful web services using the Restify framework
• Develop, test, and deploy microservices using Docker, Docker Swarm, and Node.js, on AWS EC2 using Terraform
• Get up to speed with using data storage engines such as MySQL, SQLite3, and MongoDB
• Test your web applications using unit testing with Mocha, and headless browser testing with Puppeteer
• Implement HTTPS using Let's Encrypt and enhance application security with Helmet

Who this book is for

If you're looking for an alternative to the 'P' languages (Perl, PHP, and Python), or if you want to get started with server-side web development with JavaScript programming, or if you want a deep dive into deploying services to cloud hosting, this Node.js book is for you. A rudimentary understanding of JavaScript and web application development is a must before you get started with this book.

Table of Contents

1. About Node.js
2. Setting Up Node.js
3. Exploring Node.js Modules
4. HTTP Servers and Clients
5. Your First Express Application
6. Implementing the Mobile-First Paradigm
7. Data Storage and Retrieval
8. Authenticating Users with a Microservice
9. Dynamic Client/Server Interaction with Socket.IO
10. Deploying Node.js Applications to Linux Servers
11. Deploying Node.js microservices with Docker
12. Deploying a Docker Swarm to AWS EC2 with Terraform
13. Unit Testing and Functional Testing
14. Security in Node.js Applications

David Herron is a software engineer living in Silicon Valley who has worked on projects ranging from an X.400 email server to being part of the team that launched the OpenJDK project, to Yahoo's Node.js application-hosting platform, and a solar array performance monitoring service. That took David through several companies until he grew tired of communicating primarily with machines, and developed a longing for human communication. Today, David is an independent writer of books and blog posts covering topics related to technology, programming, electric vehicles, and clean energy technologies.