Node.js Development Guide

This is the first technical book in the Chinese-speaking world to systematically introduce Node.js, written by BYVoid (Guo Jiabao), then active in China's front-end and open-source communities, and published in the People's Posts and Telecommunications Press "Turing Original" series. The book proceeds in the order "understand first, then build, finally deploy." It opens by explaining what Node.js is and what it can do, covering asynchronous I/O, the event-driven model, and Node.js's architecture and performance characteristics, and tracing the brief history of JavaScript from LiveScript to ECMAScript and the role of the CommonJS specification in the revival of server-side JavaScript. It then moves to installation and source compilation on Windows, various Linux distributions, and Mac OS X, and introduces the basics of the npm package manager. The quick-start section begins with Hello World and explains the module system, organizing callbacks in asynchronous programming, and the use of core modules and common APIs. The main body uses case-based teaching to guide readers in building web applications with Node.js, covering routing, templates and rendering, request handling, data storage and sessions, Express-like frameworks and middleware, and real-time communication scenarios such as WebSocket, while interweaving explanations of HTTP protocol, MVC layering, and other foundational web development principles. Advanced chapters discuss debugging and testing, performance and concurrency, process management and multi-core utilization, and security. The final section explains deploying applications to production, including process supervision, reverse proxies and load balancing, logging, and monitoring. The book is rich in examples and includes "Warning" and "Tip" sidebars, aimed at readers with no Node.js background but basic JavaScript and web concepts.