How to Become a Better Node.js Developer in 2016

The page gathers practical advice for Node.js work across development and operations. It recommends ES2015, a callback interface with Promise support, careful error handling, a standard code style, monitoring, automation, current Node.js releases, and regular dependency updates.

Reading notes

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• Use ES2015 features that are available in the latest stable Node.js version, and avoid compiling source on the server side when possible.
• Expose modules with an error-first callback interface and Promise support so they stay compatible with older and newer code.
• Distinguish programmer errors from operational errors, crash immediately on bugs, and handle callback errors explicitly.
• Add a final catch to Promise chains so later errors are not lost.
• Prefer JavaScript Standard Style for simple code style rules without project-specific configuration.
• Follow the Twelve-Factor Application manifesto for web applications.
• Start new projects with npm init, or npm init –yes to accept defaults.
• Monitor applications with tools such as Zabbix, Collectd, ElasticSearch, Logstash, or Trace.
• Automate work with build tools such as Grunt, Gulp, and Webpack.
• Use the latest LTS Node.js version, and use nvm when different projects need different versions.
• Update dependencies weekly with npm outdated or ncu.
• Choose a database based on the data shape, transactions, and retention needs.
• Use Semantic Versioning and semantic-release to automate module releases.
• Keep up with Node.js and JavaScript news by subscribing to the listed media.