Setting up a Project with Node

Welcome to JSCRIPT 400 - Server Side Development with JavaScript

During class, we will be using repositories like these to develop skills and solidify concepts. I would recommend reading through the instructions before coming to class to prime yourself to the material.

Part of your homework assignment for each class will be to make a Pull Request against this repository. Your Pull Request should include answers to any questions in this document.

As we work together on this during class, I would encourage you to make comments next to code we write. Explain what is happening in your own words so that later you have those notes as a reference.

Core Learning Objective

• Use NodeJS APIs to interact with files and the web

Sub-Objectives

• Setup a basic NPM project
• Run your project from the command line with scripts
• Export and require your own files
• Require and use core Node libraries
• Install, require, and use packages from the web

Prereqs

To complete this lesson, make sure that node and npm is installed and can be run from the command line. My versions of each are as follows:

$ node -v
v12.2.0

$ npm -v
6.9.0

Instructions & Guiding Questions

• Fork & Clone this repository

• Question: What is the difference between forking and cloning a repository as opposed to just cloning a repository?

• Your Answer: Forking creates a copy of the GitHub project. When you clone the forked project, you can freely push changes to it since you own it. If you just clone a project that you don't control, you may not be able to push changes to it.

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• Run npm init -y from the command line

• Question: What does npm init do? How does the -y flag modify that command?

• Your Answer: 'npm init' initializes a directory as a node project by creating a package.json file. '-y' skips the questions.

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• Take a look at the file that was generated by the previous command

• Question: What is the purpose of the following keys? "name", "scripts", "license"

• Your Answer: "name" is the name of your project. "scripts" are scripts associated with the project.

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• Create a .gitignore file

• Question: What is the purpose of the .gitignore file? What is the significance of a "dot-file?"

• Your Answer: '.gitignore' defines files and folders that you would like git to ignore. The dot makes the file hidden.

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• Create an index.js file with the following contents: console.log('Hello, Node!')

• Question: From the command line, how can you run this file?

• Your Answer: node index.js

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• Run npm test from the command line

• Question: What happens and how is this related to what is in the package.json file?

• Your Answer: 'npm test' runs the project's test script. The default test script prints the fact that you don't have any tests defined to the console and then exits with error code 1.

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• Create a new "script" command called "start" that has the following value: node index.js

• Question: What will you enter on the command line to run that script?

• Your Answer: npm start

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• Change the name of your "start" script to "my-file"

• Question: The same pattern will not work to try and run this script. How can you successfully get this script to run?

• Your Answer: npm run my-file

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• Create a new file called profile.js. Inside the file, copy the following but replace <your-name> with your name:

  module.exports = '<your-name>'

  Add the following to your index.js file. Then, run your file.

  const profile = require('./profile.js')
  console.log(profile)

• Question: What gets logged? Why?

• Your Answer: Hello, Node! Jonathan

• Question: What is module.exports and what is its type in JavaScript? What is require and what is its type in JavaScript?

• Your Answer: module.exports is an object. require is a function.

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• We can only export one thing from files when using Node. With that said, export both your name and your birthday from the profile.js file.

• Question: What are some ways you can solve this problem?

• Your Answer: wrap your things in a single object

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• Add the following to your index.js file. Then, run your file.

  const path = require('path')
  console.log(path.resolve())

• Question: What is path and where does it come from?

• Your Answer: it's a node module. It's included with node.js core so it doesn't need to be installed.

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• Install the moment package

• Question: What command can you run to install this package?

• Your Answer: npm install moment --save

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• On your own, use this package in the index.js file

• Question: Do you need to use a ./ to require the package? Why or why not?

• Your Answer: No. You don't use ./ with installed modules.

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• Move your profile.js file into a src/ folder. Update the path in your index.js file to ensure everything continues to work.

Resources

• Node.js Built-In Modules
• NPM: Moment