node CommandWe can execute Node.js programs in the terminal by typing thenode command, followed by the file name.
The example command runsapp.js, assuming there is a file with that name in the current working directory.
node app.js
Node.js comes with REPL, an abbreviation for read–eval–print loop. REPL contains three different states:
After these states are finished, the REPL loops through these states repeatedly. REPL is useful as it gives back immediate feedback which can be used to perform calculations and develop code.
$ nodeWelcome to Node.js v22.19.0.> console.log("HI")HI
The Node.js environment has aglobal object that contains every Node-specific global property. The global object can be accessed by executingconsole.log(global), or simplyglobal in the terminal with the REPL running. In order to see just the keys, useObject.keys(global) instead.
Sinceglobal is an object, new properties can be assigned to it viaglobal.name_of_property = 'value_of_property'.
// access global within a scriptconsole.log(global);// add a new property to globalglobal.car='DeLorean';
A process is the instance of a computer program that is being executed. Node has a globalprocess object with useful properties. One of these properties is.env, which stores and controls information about the environment.
console.log(process.env.PWD);// Prints: /path/where/terminal/command/executedif(process.env.NODE_ENV==='development'){startDevelopmentServer();console.log('Testing! Testing! Does everything work?');}elseif(process.env.NODE_ENV==='production'){startProductionServer();}
process.argv is a property that holds an array of the command-line values that were provided when the current process was initiated. The first element in the array is the absolute path to the Node installation, followed by the path to the file that was executed, and then any additional command-line arguments provided.
// Command line values: node web.js testing several featuresconsole.log(process.argv[2]);// 'testing' will be printed
process.memoryUsage()process.memoryUsage() is a method that can be used to return information on the CPU demands of the current process. Here, “heap” refers to a pool of computer memory, rather than the data structure of the same name.
Usingprocess.memoryUsage() will return an object in a format like the example given.
In Node.js, files are called modules. Modularity is a technique where a single program has distinct parts, each providing a single piece of the overall functionality, like pieces of a puzzle coming together to complete a picture.require() is a function used to import one module into another.
const baseball=require('./babeRuth.js')
Node has several modules included within the environment to efficiently perform common tasks. These are known as thecore modules. The core modules are defined within Node.js’s source and are located in thelib/ folder. A core module can be accessed by passing a string with the name of the module into therequire() function.
const util=require('util');
In Node.js files are considered modules. Modules that are created locally are called local modules. These local modules are held in an object calledmodule. This object has a property calledexports which allows a module to be accessed in a different module.
// type.js// by using the export property we can use this module in another filemodule.exports=classkey{constructor(car){this.car= car;}};// qwerty.js// by requiring the type.js file we can we use the module in the type.js filelet Dog=require('./type.js');
NPM stands for node-package-manager. An NPM is essentially a collection of code from other developers that we can use. When Node is installed the npm command-line tool is downloaded as well. This command-line tool enables us to interact with the registry via our terminal.
events ModuleNode.js has anEventEmitter class that can be accessed by importing theevents core module. Each event emitter instance has an.on() method that assigns a listener callback function to a named event.EventEmitter also has an.emit() method, which announces that a named event has occurred.
// Require in the 'events' core modulelet events=require('events');// Create an instance of the EventEmitter classlet myEmitter=newevents.EventEmitter();letshowNewUser=(data)=>{console.log(`participant:${data}.`);};// Assign the showNewUser function as the listener callback for 'new user' eventsmyEmitter.on('new user', showNewUser)// Emit a 'new user' eventmyEmitter.emit('new user','Lily Pad')// Prints: participant: Lily Pad.
Node.js is a non-blocking, asynchronous environment. Theevent loop in Node.js enables asynchronous actions to be handled in a non-blocking way. Node.js provides APIs which allow operations to be put in a queue, waiting to be executed after the previous operation finishes. If synchronous tasks never end, operations waiting in the event-queue will never execute.
letendgame=()=>{console.log('I am inevitable')};// endgame will run after 1000mssetTimeout(endgame,1000);
error ModuleMany asynchronous Node.js APIs assume that the provided callback function will have an error passed as the first argument, followed by the resulting data of a (successful) operation. If the asynchronous task results in an error, the error will be passed in as the first argument to the callback function, with no second argument. If no error was thrown, then the first argument will beundefined, and the resulting data of the operation will be passed as the second argument.
Input is data that is given to the computer, while output is any data or feedback that a computer provides. In Node, we can get input from a user using thestdin.on() method on theprocess object. We are able to use this becauseprocess.stdin is an instance ofEventEmitter. To give an output, we can use thestdout.write() method on the process object as well. This is becauseconsole.log() is actually a thin wrapper onstdout.write().
// recieve an inputprocess.stdin.on('data', onDataCallback);// produce an outputprocess.stdout.write(data);
fs ModuleThefile system controls how data on a computer is stored and retrieved. Node.js provides thefs core module, which allows interaction with the file system. Each method provided through the module has synchronous and asynchronous versions to allow for flexibility. One method available in the module is.readFile(), which reads data from the provided file.
const fs=require('fs');// First argument is the file path// The second argument is the file’s character encoding// The third argument is an error-first callback functionfs.readFile('./file.txt','utf-8', callbackFunction);
Node was designed with back end development needs as a top priority. One of these needs is the ability to create web servers. A web server is a computer process that listens for requests from clients and returns responses. A Node core module designed to meet these needs is the http module. This module has functions that simplify receiving and responding to requests.
const http=require('http');
http.createServer() is a method that returns an instance of anhttp.server. The method.listen() inhttp.server tells the server to “listen” for incoming connections. We givehttp.createServer() a callback function also known as therequestListener, which will be triggered once the server is listening and receives a request. The requestlistener requests a request object and a response object.
// required in the http core module.const http=require('http');letrequestListener=(request, response)=>{// code to be filled in depending on server};// assigning return valueconst server= http.createServer(requestListener);// assigning server portserver.listen(3000);
In most cases, data is not processed all at once, but rather piece by piece, which we call a stream. Streaming data is preferred as it doesn’t require tons of RAM and doesn’t need to have all the data on hand to begin processing it. To read files line by line, we can use the.createInterface() method from thereadline core module in conjunction withfs.createReadStream(). We can create a writeable stream by using thefs.createWriteStream() method, and write to the stream using.write().
const fs=require('fs');const readline=require('readline');// Readable streamreadline.createInterface({input: fs.createReadStream('text.txt')});// Writable Streamconst writableStream= fs.createWriteStream('output.txt');writableStream.write('data');writableStream.close();