Node for Front-End Developers

Appendix A. Postscript

At this point, hopefully you feel comfortable writing a Node.js application. If you have existing client-side JavaScript skills, there’s little preventing you from setting up Node locally and beginning to write code. However, this book is not a complete guide to Node; there are important steps to take next, once you’ve gotten used to writing applications.

Because of Node’s age, there are only a few established hosting providers providing setup and management. In contrast to Apache, for example, the number of options is tiny. Nonetheless, there are already companies who will manage Node for you, requiring you to do nothing more than upload your application code. If you feel comfortable with a more hands-on approach, a virtual private server that allows you SSH access will enable you to set up Node to your liking and control things from the command line.

We’ve covered application development here, but it’s important not to go into programming for Node thinking that this is all there is to it. Just like any other server, for a production implementation, the expertise of someone who understands servers and systems administration is needed, at least to get set up. If you have that skill set, you should find it reasonably simple to track down modules and tools for administrative tasks like keeping Node running, creating logs, concatenating and compressing client-side files, etc. If you don’t, your best bet is to look for a managed installation or team ...