Indie Software-Technology

The Node.js Handbook by Flavio Copes

This book is written by Flavio Copes, an Italian computer-science writer who maintains his own blog (linked below). He has written many blog posts in English about relevant topics of interest to software developers. He seems to have transformed many of these blog posts into books and has independently published these. Some of these books are even freely downloadable with the sole cost of signing up for a free email list.

Overall, though presumably more comfortable with communicating in Italian, Copes grasps the salient issues of software technology directly and expresses his technical thoughts clearly in the English language. He provides comprehensive coverage of topics relevant to people new to the technology. He hits on issues that most people exposed to computer science look for when they come into contact with a new package. However, his audience in this work is limited to more experienced programmers. (A beginner would need to read his handbook on JavaScript first before diving into this more advanced topic.) Further, he addresses the points important to the practice of computer programming and does not address issues relevant to business concerns, such as maintainability and ease of adaptation.

From the bio on his blog, Copes seemingly writes about technical topics full time – a setup that gives him a lot of freedom to undertake research about relevant packages. He approaches his writing as an experienced software developer interested in an English-language audience. His coverage thorough, and he uses computer code as the base of his compositions. After (even while) perusing the book, the reader is well positioned to begin fiddling with Node.js in order to gain more mastery.

Node.js is a JavaScript framework that can serve as a web server. It is traditionally part of a JavaScript-heavy software stack (nicknamed MEAN) that includes MongoDB, Express.js, AngularJS, and Node.js. JavaScript used to be synonymous with slow, but as Copes explains, modern Javascript is often compiled by the browser. Thus, it can efficiently act as a quick server. Interestingly, though MongoDB (NoSQL) traditionally serves as a JavaScript-integrated, JSON-structured database, Copes addresses traditional MySQL integration directly towards the end of this handbook.

Copes’ work allows the reader to envision how to gain proficiency in a MEAN stack and become more comfortable with modern JavaScript syntax. Many companies market directly for workers with experience in specific stacks (like MEAN and LAMPP) to achieve specific engineering goals. Copes can bridge the reader from first hearing about the technology to the point where she/he is using the technology to understand how to use it. He does so directly, succinctly, and with interesting topics. This work is recommended to software developers who are curious at expanding their intellectual portfolio.

The Node.js Handbook
by Flavio Copes
Independently Published
Freely downloadable
Downloaded February 2020
Page Count: 189
www.flaviocopes.com