Node.js runs on POSIX-like operating systems, various UNIX derivatives (Solaris, for example) or workalikes (Linux, macOS, and so on), as well as on Microsoft Windows. It can run on machines both large and small, including the tiny ARM devices such as the Raspberry Pi microscale embeddable computer for DIY software/hardware projects.

Node.js is now available via package management systems, limiting the need to compile and install from source.

Because many Node.js packages are written in C or C++, you must have a C compiler (such as GCC), Python 2.7 (or later), and the node-gyp package. If you plan to use encryption in your networking code, you will also need the OpenSSL cryptographic library. The modern UNIX derivatives almost certainly come with these, and Node.js's configure script, used when installing from source, will detect their presence. If you...

The preferred method for installing Node.js, now, is to use the versions available in package managers, such as apt-get, or MacPorts. Package managers simplify your life by helping to maintain the current version of the software on your computer, ensuring to update dependent packages as necessary, all by typing a simple command such as apt-get update. Let's go over this first.

The MacPorts project (http://www.macports.org/) has for years been packaging a long list of open source software packages for macOS, and they have packaged Node.js. After you have installed MacPorts using the installer on their website, installing Node.js is pretty much...

Installing the prepackaged Node.js distributions is the preferred installation method. However, installing Node.js from source is desirable in a few situations:

• It can let you optimize the compiler settings as desired
• It can let you cross-compile, say, for an embedded ARM system
• You might need to keep multiple Node.js builds for testing
• You might be working on Node.js itself

Now that you have the high-level view, let's get our hands dirty mucking around in some build scripts. The general process follows the usual configure, make, and make install routine that you may already have performed with other open source software packages. If not, don't worry, we'll guide you through the process.

Normally, you won't install multiple versions of Node.js and doing so adds complexity to your system. But if you are hacking on Node.js itself, or are testing your software against different Node.js releases, you may want to have multiple Node.js installations. The method to do so is a simple variation on what we've already discussed.

Earlier, while discussing building Node.js from source, we noted that one can install multiple Node.js instances in separate directories. It's only necessary to build from source if you need a customized Node.js build, and most folks will be satisfied with pre-built Node.js binaries. They, too, can be installed into separate directories.

To switch between Node.js versions is simply a matter of changing the PATH variable (on POSIX systems), as follows, using the directory where you installed...

While we won't discuss native code module development in this book, we do need to make sure that they can be built. Some modules in the NPM repository are native code, and they must be compiled with a C or C++ compiler to build the corresponding .node files  (the .node extension is used for binary native-code modules).

The module will often describe itself as a wrapper for some other library. For example, the libxslt and libxmljs modules are wrappers around the C/C++ libraries of the same name. The module includes the C/C++ source code, and when installed, a script is automatically run to do the compilation with node-gyp.

The node-gyp tool is a cross-platform command-line tool written in Node.js for compiling native add-on modules for Node.js. We've mentioned native code modules several...

We just threw around so many different Node.js version numbers in the previous section that you may have become confused over which version to use. This book is targeting Node.js version 10.x, and it's expected that everything we'll cover is compatible with Node.js 10.x and any subsequent release.

Starting with Node.js 4.x, the Node.js team is following a dual-track approach. The even-numbered releases (4.x, 6.x, 8.x, and so on) are what they're calling Long Term Support (LTS), while the odd-numbered releases (5.x, 7.x, 9.x, and so on) are where current new feature development occurs. While the development branch is kept stable, the LTS releases are positioned as being for production use and will receive updates for several years.

At the time of writing, Node.js 8.x is the current LTS release; Node.js 9.x was just released...

Since Node.js code is JavaScript, any JavaScript-aware editor will be useful. Unlike some other languages that are so complex that an IDE with code completion is a necessity, a simple programming editor is perfectly sufficient for Node.js development.

Two editors are worth calling out because they are written in Node.js: Atom and Microsoft Visual Studio Code. 

Atom (https://atom.io/) bills itself as a hackable editor for the 21st century. It is extendable by writing Node.js modules using the Atom API, and the configuration files are easily editable. In other words, it's hackable in the same way plenty of other editors have been, going back to Emacs, meaning one writes a software module to add capabilities to the editor. The Electron framework was invented in order to build Atom, and Electron is a super easy way to build desktop applications...