Getting Started with Node.
js
Paul O’Fallon
@paulofallon
Outline
An overview of Node.js
Building and installing Node.js
Developing for Node with Cloud9 IDE
An introduction to Node’s event loop
Writing code with callbacks
Node.js background
Node.js Building Blocks
A high performance, cross-platform evented I/O library
libuv V8 js, c++ Node.js
Google’s JavaScript engine (also used in Chrome)
Getting Node.js
http://nodejs.org/download/
Installers available for Windows & Mac OS X
Binaries available for Windows, Mac, Linux and SunOS
Also available via many Linux package managers
Source code also available
Manage multiple versions with ‘nvm’ (https://github.com/creationix/nvm)
git clone git://github.com/creationix/nvm.git ~/nvm
. ~/nvm/nvm.sh
nvm install 0.8.14
nvm use 0.6.19
nvm alias default 0.8.14
Cloud9 IDE
http://c9.io
Node’s Event Loop
timers filesystem
tcp
process
http
events network
What does this mean in practice?
Database
http request #1
http request #2
http response #1
http request #3
http response #2
http response #3
Writing asynchronous code is different
A typical approach
var conn = getDbConnection(connectionString);
var stmt = conn.createStatement();
var results = stmt.executeQuery(sqlQuery);
for (var i=0; i<results.length; i++) {
// print results[i];
}
An asynchronous, “non-blocking” approach
getDbConnection(connectionString, function(err, conn) {
conn.createStatement(function(err, stmt) {
var results = stmt.executeQuery(sqlQuery);
callbacks
results.on(‘row’, function(result) {
// print result
EventEmitter
});
});
});
Coding for asynchrony with callbacks
Asynchronous functions with callbacks
Error is first parameter to callback function
var handleResults = function(error, results) {
// if error is undefined…
// do something with the results
}
getStuff(inputParam, handleResults);
Callback is last parameter in async function call
Anonymous Functions and Closures
For simple callbacks, anonymous functions are more common
getStuff(inputParam, function(error, results) {
// if error is undefined…
// do something with the results
});
… and closures are your friend!
someOtherFunction(function(err, stuffToGet) {
var foo = 23;
getStuff(stuffToGet, function(error, results) {
// if error is undefined…
// do something with the results (and foo)
});
});
Too much of a good thing…
Beware of the “Christmas tree” effect!
asyncFunction1(inputParam, function(err, results1) {
asyncFunction2(results1, function (err, results2) {
asyncFunction3(results2, function (err, results3) {
asyncFunction4(results3, function (err, results4) {
asyncFunction5(results4, function (err, results5) {
// and so on…
});
});
});
});
});
Conclusion
Overview of Node.js and its beginnings
Installing Node.js and using nvm to manage versions
Introduction to Cloud9 IDE
The importance of Node’s event loop and non-blocking I/O
Writing asynchronous code using callbacks
References
Ryan Dahl’s original JSConf.eu presentation (YouTube):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztspvPYybIY
An introduction to libuv -
http://nikhilm.github.com/uvbook/introduction.html
V8 JavaScript Engine (Google Project Hosting):
http://code.google.com/p/v8/
Installing Node via a package manager:
https://github.com/joyent/node/wiki/Installing-Node.js-via-package-
manager
How to JavaScript closures work?
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/111102/how-do-javascript-
closures-work
