Node JS and Non-Blocking IO
Journey into Node JS!
Suppose you want a program that can handle server-side operations, like writing to a database or a file system, but you feel that content management systems like WordPress and Drupal have more features than you need — and may not be worth the maintenance and setup steps.
Or suppose you speak Javascript as your native tongue. but want to try writing a desktop application that can output files.
If you find yourself in this situation or a variant thereof, I recommend exploring Node JS — a lightweight open-source platform for developing server-side applications with Javascript.
As a developer who has mainly used Drupal content management systems or Android apps to interact with databases and file systems, I am finding Node JS to be an exciting foray into using Javascript to run server-side applications using a lightweight solution.
Requirements
Using Node JS requires a familiarity with the command line, and if your machine does not already have it, you will need to install it on your machine.
Hello World
Once you have Node installed, running a Hello World program is pretty straightforward. Putting that out there now because for me, getting something to work is usually my first step on the journey. That said, this post focuses mainly on what Node JS is and why it is unique.
