• Author: Manuel Kiessling
• Format: online HTML
• Price: free

The aim of this document is to get you started with developing applications with Node.js, teaching you everything you need to know about “advanced” JavaScript along the way. It goes way beyond your typical “Hello World” tutorial.

It is intended for people that are experienced with at least one object-oriented language like Ruby, Python, PHP or Java, only little experience with JavaScript, and completely new to Node.js.

NOTE: There is an offer to purchase a PDF, ePub, or MOBI edition bundle containing this book and Pedro Teixeira’s more in depth book Hands-on Node.js on the page. Scroll past it to read the free online HTML version of The Node Beginner Book.

Chapters include:

• JavaScript and Node.js
  • JavaScript and You
  • A word of warning
  • Server-side JavaScript
  • “Hello World”
• A full blown web application with Node.js
  • The use cases
  • The application stack
• Building the application stack
  • A basic HTTP server
  • Analyzing our HTTP server
  • Passing functions around
  • How function passing makes our HTTP server work
  • Event-driven callbacks
  • How our server handles requests
  • Finding a place for our server module
  • What’s needed to “route” requests?
  • Execution in the kingdom of verbs
  • Routing to real request handlers
  • Making the request handlers respond
  • o How to not do it
  • o Blocking and non-blocking
  • o Responding request handlers with non-blocking operations
  • Serving something useful
  • o Handling POST requests
  • o Handling file uploads
  • Conclusion and outlook

http://nodebeginner.org/