A few questions about node.js

Question

Am I right in thinking that node.js is a "total" development platform, in much the same way as asp.NET, PHP and even classic ASP are?

There seems to be a lot of excitement about node.js which makes me a little nervious about it being yet another "flash in the pan" type technology that will fade away?

If I was going to go about learning node.js have you got any tips how I might start out, without frying my brian?

possible duplicate of [How do I get started with Node.js](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2353818/how-do-i-get-started-with-node-js) — Andreas Hultgren, Sep 19 '13 at 12:42
As for question #1, you can do mostly anything. As for "question" #2, how's anyone going to answer that? — Andreas Hultgren, Sep 19 '13 at 12:44
Yeah sorry. Question 2 is quite subjective. Just wanted to get a general feel about the technology. — Strontium_99, Sep 19 '13 at 12:48

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 19 '13 at 12:45

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Node.js is not a platform for common applications like blogs, etc.
It's for fast async apps like chats, relays, etc

It can be compared to Twisted framework (Python), Tornado framework (Python) or eventmachine framework (Ruby).

answered Sep 19 '13 at 12:45

Dmitry

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So it's quite specific the sort of uses it's suited to. IE> You wouldn't use it for day to day quite static website development for example. – Strontium_99 Sep 19 '13 at 12:47

DrakaSAN · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-19T12:56:54.987

1

As said DmitryR, node.js is a framework of Javascript. It is also based on the V8 engine of Chrome. It is server side based, but can be used for non-internet application too (I m develloping one right now).

What is your goal in learning Node.js?

Create a website

Wrong choice

Create a web app (like a chat)

Good choice

Learning a new language ''for fun''

Good choice too, Node.js is asynchronous and quite easy to learn, even with obscure docs, and can be used for a lot of things. It is also a script, so it don t require to be compiled, but you better be on non-windows os, since node.js for windows can be a pain for devellopement.

If you want tips about where to start, you d better start by understanding asynchronous programming, it s the only "hard" part of this language.

edited Sep 19 '13 at 12:56

answered Sep 19 '13 at 12:51

DrakaSAN

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#DrakaSAN Thanks for the feedback. I think you've hit the nail on the head. I think the thing that attracted me was the fact it's based on javascript. But just wanted to get a feel as to what it was really useful for. From my point of view my goal would really be learning a new language for fun. So I might well go for it. Although, yeah, I'm on windows :) Thanks again. – Strontium_99 Sep 19 '13 at 12:57
You can accept the answer if you have all you wanted to hear ; ). If you ve already done some javascript, it s all for the better, since you ll not start learning from scratch. – DrakaSAN Sep 19 '13 at 13:05

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 19 '13 at 13:05

1

There are some interactive ways to learn node.js like:

You can give them a try.

answered Sep 19 '13 at 13:05

Disper

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Thanks. I'll check them out. – Strontium_99 Sep 19 '13 at 13:06

A few questions about node.js

3 Answers3