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.
- Use NodeJS APIs to interact with files and the web
- 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
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
- Fork & Clone this repository
-
Question: What is the difference between forking and cloning a repository as opposed to just cloning a repository?
-
Your Answer:
- Run
npm init -y
from the command line
-
Question: What does
npm init
do? How does the-y
flag modify that command? -
Your Answer:
- 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:
- Create a
.gitignore
file
-
Question: What is the purpose of the
.gitignore
file? What is the significance of a "dot-file?" -
Your Answer:
- 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:
- 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:
- 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:
- 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:
-
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:
-
Question: What is
module.exports
and what is its type in JavaScript? What isrequire
and what is its type in JavaScript? -
Your Answer:
- 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:
- 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:
- Install the moment package
-
Question: What command can you run to install this package?
-
Your Answer:
- 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:
- Move your
profile.js
file into asrc/
folder. Update the path in yourindex.js
file to ensure everything continues to work.