Node

Node.js is an event-driven I/O framework for the V8 JavaScript engine on Unix-like platforms. It is intended for writing scalable network programs such as web servers. That’s right, a web server written in JavaScript! Server side JavaScript is a very hot topic right now, and the idea of an end-to-end solution with the same language on both the client and the server is a nice idea. While Node is really aimed more at high-performance, high-concurrency asynchronous server development, the “one language” idea is a novel bit of added sugar.

But what’s that, “Unix-like” platforms? What about Windows? Sure, you can run linux on a VM, or on a separate partition, but what if you want to run node directly within Windows?

Well, I came across a post by an Aussie named Tatham Oddie that addressed just that question, and now I have node running on my Windows 7 box!:

http://blog.tatham.oddie.com.au/2011/03/16/node-js-on-windows/

My first node server, displaying “hello world,” is up and running, and I’m juiced to start digging deeper and writing practical server implementations.

My short term goal is to build a simple end-to-end solution with all the pieces I’ve talked about recently: node as the server, RequireJS client-side modules, jQuery Templates, and jQuery DataLink

Stay tuned…