

The Node Beginner Book, an introduction to Node.js, is now complete - ManuelKiessling
http://nodebeginner.org/index.html

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draz
I've read the guide a few weeks ago, and it's absolutely great! I certainly
learned a lot, and it saved me a lot of time Googling for answers. I think it
would be a great addition to the book to discuss some of the frameworks that
take Node.js to the next level: MVC (Express?), debugging, etc., and provide
some examples. How does the author actually go about doing real-world
projects? (I'm thinking along the lines of the Manning books that not only
introduce a language, but also discuss plugins, etc)

As a Java developer, I cannot imagine writing a website with "pure" Java vs.
using a framework such as Struts 2, for example.

~~~
ManuelKiessling
Hi, I'm the author. I would like to add much more relevant content to the
book, but I need to be realistic about how much time I can spare for this
currently. We will see how it works out.

~~~
draz
Hi Manuel! I didnt mean for it to sound the wrong way, as if I'm ungrateful
for the work you have done. As I've mentioned, it really is good, and it got
me up and running and experimenting with Node.js quickly (for which I'm
thankful for!).

Maybe other people from HN can pick up the glove? Maybe a book deal with
Manning/O'Reilly/Wrox (unless you're not interested in pursuing writing)?

I was just reading the Google+ public "How-to" collaborative doc the internet
community has been building (<http://bit.ly/qg0Yf6>). Maybe the Node.js guide
should take this format and make it into a living manual?

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ManuelKiessling
All cool, didn't sound the wrong way at all!

I think "Hands-on Node.js" by Pedro Teixeira is the perfect "next read" when
you're finished with NodeBeginner. Pedro and I have bundled our eBooks at
Leanbundle.com, maybe that's interesting for you:
<http://leanbundle.com/bundles/node>

~~~
rawl
I actually bought the bundle! :) great work! PDFs and ePub looks great on my
nook color.

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peterarmstrong
As a cofounder of Leanpub (which is where both books are published and sold)
and LeanBundle (which sells the bundle), this makes me so happy to hear!

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GrooveStomp
Color me interested. I only did a super short-and-quick scan, but it looked
nice for newbs trying to get up to speed.

My #1 hurdle to adopting server-side Javascript is the terrible, utterly
lacking documentation for anything CommonJS related. If you've got any kind of
reference for that stuff, then triple bonus points!

~~~
clyfe
<http://www.commonjs.org/specs/>

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satoimo
Sure it's just sample code, but I spilled my coffee when I saw this:

function sleep(milliSeconds) { var startTime = new Date().getTime(); while
(new Date().getTime() < startTime + milliSeconds); }

Someone likes feeding the garbage collector.

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ManuelKiessling
Did you see that it's just code to demonstrate blocking, i.e., to demonstrate
how to NOT do it?

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ansy
I read this book and the Hands-on Node.js book by Pedro Teixeira of NodeTuts.
I have to say, while The Node Beginner Books is a tremendous effort that
deserves congratulations, I did learn more from buying Hands-on Node.js for
those interested.

Granted, Hands-on Node.js costs $6 versus Beginner's free. But in my opinion
it's worth it. And a sizable portion of Hands-on Node.js is free in a sample
download which I what I started with before deciding to buy it.

<http://nodetuts.com/handson-nodejs-book.html>

~~~
peterarmstrong
FYI: you can buy both those books (The Node Beginner Book and Hands-on
Node.js) as a bundle for only $7.99 at <http://leanbundle.com/bundles/node>.
Buying the bundle gets you both books on Leanpub as well, so you get free
updates for as long as they're updated on Leanpub.

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adamtulinius
It's silly that the layout requires a width of 1280px because of the right
column, when there's plenty of free space in the left column:
<http://oi54.tinypic.com/20a3xxc.jpg> (only offending areas shown :)

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ManuelKiessling
You're right, but I suck at CSS - any hints?

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mnutt
The quickest and easiest thing to get you up and running might be a grid
framework, like grid960 (960.gs) or blueprint (blueprintcss.org).

Though off the top of my head, I can't think of a way that you could maintain
your current layout but collapse the left column first.

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traldan
Great stuff when I worked through it a few weeks ago. That bundled deal looks
very tempting!

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jrubinovitz
Excellent! I highly recommend this book if you're looking to get into Node.js.

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sthejo
Just in time as I was planning to dive head first into node. Thanks!

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hezekiah
Reading it now; excellent introduction! I'm what you might call an
"experienced developer" - I've been writing code since I was a little kid
typing in Basic games to an Apple II - but I still find this back-to-the-
basics approach more helpful than the usual high-level intro.

Thanks!

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hezekiah
"Our plan was to allow users to upload an image file, and display the uploaded
image in the browser. Back in the 90's this would have qualified as a business
model for an IPO."

Tru dat!

