What this book covers
Chapter 1, Learning about the Internals of Node.js, describes the inner workings of Node.js, its principles, and basic ideas. This chapter also makes you familiar with the essential Node.js command-line tooling.
Chapter 2, Dividing Code into Modules and Packages, introduces different module formats, their advantages and disadvantages, and their support within Node.js. The chapter also introduces the important package.json file for defining Node.js packages.
Chapter 3, Choosing a Package Manager, describes and compares the different established command-line utilities for installing and managing third-party dependencies in your Node.js packages.
Chapter 4, Using Different Flavors of JavaScript, covers the main concepts and ideas for using different flavors of JavaScript with Node.js. These flavors include Flow and TypeScript, but also more recent specifications of the ECMAScript standard than those supported by the currently available version of Node.js.
Chapter 5, Enhancing Code Quality with Linters and Formatters, covers the available utilities for improving the code quality of JavaScript projects. This chapter has information on how to install these code quality helpers, configure them, and have them integrated into standard workflows and development processes.
Chapter 6, Building Web Apps with Bundlers, discusses everything you need to know about dedicated web build tools known as bundlers. In this chapter, you will learn how state-of-the-art web projects are compiled from source code to artifacts that can be published on a server. The covered bundlers include Webpack, esbuild, Parcel, and Vite.
Chapter 7, Improving Reliability with Testing Tools, covers everything you need to know about testing with Node.js – from tools for running unit tests to full end-to-end test runners. In particular, the chapter includes elementary knowledge about Jest, Mocha, AVA, Playwright, and Cypress.
Chapter 8, Publishing npm Packages, contains useful information to publish and consume packages from the official npm registry or a custom private registry such as Verdaccio. The chapter also covers the creation and publishing of CLI tools with Node.js, as well as information about writing isomorphic libraries.
Chapter 9, Structuring Code in Monorepos, covers general strategies for the development of multiple dependent packages with Node.js. In particular, it goes into the details of working on multiple packages within a single repository known as a monorepo. Possible tools, such as Nx, Lerna, or Turbo, are introduced in combination with npm, Yarn, and pnpm workspaces.
Chapter 10, Integrating Native Code with WebAssembly, discusses the possibility of running native code compiled to WebAssembly. The chapter guides you through creating your first WebAssembly module, as well as running the created module in the browser and in Node.js.
Chapter 11, Using Alternative Runtimes, offers a detailed view of two alternatives to Node.js: Deno and Bun. Both are evaluated in terms of compatibility, security, performance, and stability.
