Introduction to Node.js with Ryan Dahl

You can see the same sarcastic wit in this talk too: ▶ this video It's still my favorite tech talk, very fun to watch.

You should read this interview [1] and watch the talk [2] by node's creator Ryan Dahl to get a better understanding of where it comes from. There was much more to it than "we really like javascript" (tldr: single-threaded, evented, dynamic, freedom to write new I/O apis, backed by huge companies, well known). [1] link [2] ▶ this video

It's been a long since I watched "Introduction to Node.js with Ryan Dahl"[1], but although I think it was circa v0.4.0, it's not really outdated. It's a short talk, but it talks a little about Node's philosophy and I highly recommend watching it. I haven't watched Pedro Teixeira's tutorials[2], but many recommend it. But I personally think Manuel Kiessling's online book[3] is the best. It really teaches you to think asynchronously. I took a quick look and I don't think any of the modules he's used have had a significant change. Be sure to check it out. [1]: ▶ this video [2]: link [3]: link

I always like presentations like this. I think most languages really just need screencasts where people show you, "here is how you start using this language." One of my favorites was Ryan Dahl's introduction to Node.js, which had the same general form: ▶ this video So thanks for that. I still don't like Django so much, precisely because of the fact that you're sitting here navigating through these massive config files -- and you even need Django's bundled applications to make those files in the first place. Libraries seem much cleaner to me. I guess what I'm dreaming of is a version of django where this whole talk becomes a little simpler, a sort of cookie-cutter formalism where you just start writing: #!/usr/bin/python import django serve = django.server(port=8080, db=('sqlite3', 'mysite.db')) serve.url('/admin/.*', django.admin_site()) blog = serve.app(model={ "some json model": "I don't know exactly how it works" }) serve.url('/blog/.*', blog) ...to accomplish the same thing that you're doing in this talk. I mean, it's okay that applications often get their own folder, but shouldn't they grow into that with import statements? An open question to HN: are there libraries which do this sort of thing which I should know about?

I don't use node on Windows personally, but a review of the mailing list shows there's certainly a demand, a lot of chatter, especially directly after releases. Ryan seems to recognize Windows support is something a non-trivial portion of the community want, and is responding appropriately. btw, Ryan briefly mentions node on Windows in this talk at about the 1:00 mark, and replies "Windows is very important" to an audience member: ▶ this video

The only thing that makes node.js hip is people who call it hip. Using node.js isn't about being hip or cool, or whatever else you want to call it. It's about solving a problem you have. Personally node.js has solved a problem I was having with a recent project that needed a Comet server, and since node is all async I got this server up and running in a few minutes. I was never successful with Apache or Nginx. I recommend taking a look at this Stackoverflow answer as it outlines the benefits of node.js: link Also I recommend watching Ryan's Introduction to node.js talk: ▶ this video