New Node.js course just dropped. Self-paced, pre-recorded, open enrollment.
The thing that bugged me about every Node tutorial I'd taken before recording this one: they all show you a framework. None of them tell you when to pick which one. You either get an Express tutorial and assume Express is "the" Node framework, or you get a Koa tutorial and assume Koa is "the" minimalist one, or you get a Sails tutorial and assume Sails is "the" batteries-included one. They're all correct. They're also all useful in different contexts, and the senior move is knowing which one fits the job you're standing in front of.
This course teaches that. The running example is a small user-auth API you can fork as the starting point for whatever you build next.
What's in the box
- Installing Node.js & the runtime mental model — what Node actually is, the event loop, npm
- JavaScript essentials for server work — modules, packages, async patterns, ES2016+
- Files, streams, and the standard library — the parts of Node's built-ins you'll actually reach for
- Express, Koa, and Sails — each gets a chapter, including when each one is the right tool
- Promises, generators, async/await — escape from callback hell
- Build the running example — user-auth API tying it all together with JWT and password hashing
Who this is for
- Frontend devs ready to graduate to server-side JavaScript without learning a new language
- Devs coming from Python/Ruby/Java who want to evaluate Node before betting a project on it
- Working Node devs who've only used one framework and want to broaden their tool kit
- Tech leads sanity-checking framework choices on a new project
What you'll be able to do after
- Stand up a working Node + Express API in under five minutes
- Pick the right framework for the right job — and articulate why
- Read someone else's middleware stack and immediately spot the bug
- Build a JWT-authenticated route with proper password hashing without copy-pasting from Stack Overflow
→ Take the course
Self-paced, pre-recorded, open enrollment.
Big thanks to the Node developer community for keeping the ecosystem broad. The Express maintainers, the Koa team, the Sails folks — three different opinions about how a Node app should be structured, all alive and well, and the better for the disagreement. Thank you for the years of patient debate that made this course possible.
Picking the right framework — the course's three-question test
The course teaches a quick decision flow you can apply on any new project:
1. How much structure do I need on day one? If you're building a quick API for an internal tool, Express — minimal, hands-off, you do the routing and middleware yourself. If you're building something that has to look like a "real" app a year from now with conventions, Sails — Rails-style scaffolding, ORM included.
2. Do I need modern async patterns end-to-end? If yes, and you're starting fresh, Koa — built on async/await from the ground up, no callback hell to wade through. If you have existing Express middleware you want to keep, stay on Express; the callback-to-promise wrappers are mature.
3. Will the team grow? Bigger teams benefit from Sails' conventions because they reduce the "how do we structure this" debates. Solo or small-team work benefits from Express or Koa because the conventions are your conventions and you don't pay tax on them.
The auth pattern the course will not let you skip
Hash passwords with bcrypt (cost 10-12). Never store raw. Sign JWTs with a 256-bit secret. Set a 15-minute access-token expiry plus a 30-day refresh token. Module 8 walks the whole pattern. If you're rolling your own auth and not doing those four things, stop, take the module, then continue.
Self-paced, pre-recorded, open enrollment.