Means - Node for Front-End Developers

Copyright 2012 Garann Means

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Node.js has brought the JavaScript revolution of the past few years to the server. JavaScript, it turns out, has uses beyond the client, and many techniques for effective client-side development are applicable on the server side as well. Front-end developers can use their existing skills to work with Node today.

Depending on who you ask, there are several different definitions of front-end developer. Some of us deal only with client-side languages, relying on other developers to provide data and infrastructure on the server. Others create the server-side tools we need to make the front-end function, things like templates or REST interfaces. What we have in common is that we all probably understand JavaScript, and we are all probably the people responsible for implementing it on the sites we work on.

Even if you never touch server-side development in your work, Node.js is something worth your attention as a front-end developer. The arguments for using Node are well-documented, and youre likely to hear them in the same breath you first hear it mentioned: its fast, its scalable, its evented, its already got an enthusiastic community of developers building tools. However, if youre already used to coding in JavaScript, the most important reason to consider Node for new sites is a more subjective one: it simply gets out of your way and lets you work.

If you dont often touch server-side development, the process of setting up an application from scratch, organizing files, setting permissions, and doing all the other configuration necessary before you start actually coding might be a bit intimidating. The nice thing about configuration, of course, is that it isnt very hard. It just requires you to remember all of the steps, and in which order to execute them to be successful. As someone who codes websitesnot someone who administers web serversthe setup bit might be kind of a painful exercise. This is the great thing about Node. You can do a lot of setup by just writing JavaScript. Adding functionality can be as easy as importing a module. Your paths, your permissions, your session tracking and data persistence are all configured by just writing JavaScript. There are no obscure menus to track down or fragile sets of instructions. You just begin writing code.

A more subtle benefit to Node, when considered from the perspective of those who work on the client-side for a living, is that it operates the same way a client-side application would. Atomic events drive the application, not long sets of instructions. It reacts to its user, rather than publishing static and unchanging information on its own schedule. Node feels more suited to the web than to the desktop, which sets it apart from other popular servers. It feels almost too light to stand alone, like a simple command-line tool instead of the basis for a web frameworkand yet it does.

One of the most interesting differences in working with Node is that you cant simply dump a bunch of files into a directory structure and make that public. Files have to be chosen explicitly or in more abstract ways for delivery to the client, and handled by your server-side JavaScript as what they arecontent, templates, assets, etc. This can feel tedious when compared to most other servers, which provide the ability to serve static content automatically, but its easily handled on a larger scale and makes more sense for the type of single-page, client-based application thats becoming prevalent. More and more people whod consider themselves JavaScript developers are writing applications this way.