Quartz 4

Roadmap

2 min read

Node.js Roadmap for JavaScript Developers

1. Node.js Core Concepts

  • Runtime environment vs browser JS

  • Single-threaded, event-driven, async by default

  • Global objects: global, process, __dirname, __filename

  • Module systems:

    • CommonJS: require/module.exports

    • ES modules: import/export

  • Package management: NPM/Yarn, package.json, scripts

2. Core Modules

  • fs → read/write files, streams

  • path → manipulate file paths

  • os → system info

  • http → create HTTP servers

  • events → EventEmitter pattern

  • stream → readable/writable/transform streams

  • crypto → hashing, encryption

3. Project Structure & Environment

  • Folder structure: src/, routes/, controllers/, models/, middlewares/

  • .env variables with dotenv

  • ESLint & Prettier for consistency

4. Web Servers & APIs

  • Express.js essentials:

    • Routing, middleware

    • req & res objects

    • Query params, URL params

    • Error handling

  • REST API design

  • Optional: Koa.js / Fastify

5. Databases

  • MongoDB + Mongoose (NoSQL)

  • PostgreSQL/MySQL + Sequelize/Knex.js (SQL)

  • CRUD operations & models integration

6. Authentication & Security

  • JWT auth

  • OAuth basics (Google/Facebook)

  • Password hashing (bcrypt)

  • Route protection middleware

  • Security:

    • Helmet.js (HTTP headers)

    • Rate limiting & throttling

    • Input validation (Joi, express-validator)

7. TypeScript (Optional)

  • Type safety in Node

  • Interfaces & DTOs for API data

  • Type-safe Express routes

8. Async Patterns

  • Event loop deep dive

  • Promises, async/await in Node context

  • Streams & buffers

  • EventEmitter & event-driven design

9. Advanced Node Concepts

  • File upload/download handling

  • Cron jobs & task scheduling

  • WebSockets (Socket.io)

  • Clustering & horizontal scaling

  • Performance profiling & optimization

10. Testing

  • Unit tests: Jest, Mocha/Chai

  • Integration tests: Supertest

  • Mocking/stubbing databases

  • Test-driven development workflow

11. Architecture & Design Patterns

  • MVC, Service Layer, Repository

  • Event-driven & Observer patterns

  • Dependency injection: Awilix, Inversify

12. GraphQL & API Alternatives

  • GraphQL + Apollo Server

  • REST vs GraphQL

  • API documentation: Swagger/OpenAPI

13. Deployment & Cloud

  • Hosting: Heroku, Vercel, AWS, DigitalOcean

  • Process manager: PM2

  • Docker & containerization

  • Serverless: AWS Lambda, Vercel Functions

  • CI/CD pipelines: GitHub Actions, GitLab CI

14. Observability & Monitoring

  • Logging: Winston, Pino

  • Metrics & monitoring: Prometheus, Grafana

  • Error tracking: Sentry, Rollbar

  1. CLI tool using Node core modules

  2. REST API with Express + database

  3. Auth system (JWT + roles)

  4. Real-time chat app with WebSockets

  5. File upload/download API

  6. Optional advanced: microservices project

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