Node Bootcamp

Node Bootcamp is a series of free events aimed at helping new Node.JS developers get from no Node experience whatsoever to being able to produce their first basic Node applications.

Event Format

The general format for these events is this:

1. Spend the morning taking some hands-on training from Node.JS experts;
2. Spend the afternoon and early evening building your first Node.JS project; and finally
3. Have your projects submitted for judging and prizes.

Lesson Plan

Here's what you can expect to learn at Node Bootcamp:

1. Hour 1: Introduction to Node.JS

   • "Hello World" from Azure and Cloud9
     • How to set up an Azure account
     • How to set up a Cloud9 account
     • How to configure Cloud9 to deploy to Azure
     • Deploy a "Hello World!"
   • What is Node and how does it work?
   • The Node Event Loop
   • JavaScript and Node
   • JavaScript primer
   • Creating Node projects
     • Hello World
     • What a Node project looks like in the filesystem
   • Node modules
     • Introduction to modules
     • Writing your own module
     • Using Node Package Manager (npm)
     • Package.json

2. Hour 2: Node and Web Applications

   • HTTP and Node
   • Responding to requests
     • Response object
     • Content types
   • Working with the filesystem
     • Reading files
     • Sending files in response objects
     • Caching
     • File watchers
   • A Modern Application Framework
     • Recap on previous lessons
     • Requirements for modern applications
     • Example of a modern app
     • Node.js enables concurrency
   • Socket.io: A Primer
     • Why use Socket.io?
     • Creating a connection between client and server
     • Sending data to the client

3. Hour 3: Building Real Web Applications with Node

   • Saving Files
     • Overview of Windows Azure Blob Storage
     • Saving files to Blob Storage
     • Getting files from Blob Storage
   • Working with a Database
     • Overview of Windows Azure Table Storage
     • Using Azure Table Storage in Node.JS
       • Azure Table Storage Entity Conventions
       • Creating a strongly-typed data model for Table Storage
       • Saving records
       • Looking up a specific key
       • Queries
       • Updating records
   • Working with Cookies
     • What are cookies?
     • Setting cookie values
     • Getting cookie values
     • Deleting cookies

Tools

Here are some of the tools and platforms we will be using throughout Node bootcamp:

• Cloud9 IDE
• Windows Azure
• Windows Azure SDK for Node.JS

Schedule

Here's what the schedule looks like:

• 9:00am – Doors open
• 9:30am – Hands-on training begins
• 12:30pm – Training ends; Lunch
• 1:00pm – Node bake-off begins (create your own project from scratch)
• 5:00pm – Node bake-off ends; Judging of projects begins
• 6:00pm - Judging is finished – prizes and other magical things

Upcoming Events

1. March 17, 2012 RocketSpace, San Francisco, CA register

2. March 24, 2012 Miller Business Innovation Center, Salt Lake City, UT register

3. April 14, 2012 Uncubed, Denver, CO register

4. April 21, 2012 MSFT SVC, Mountain View, CA register

5. April 28, 2012 Gangplank, Phoenix, AZ Coming Soon!

Additional Resources

Other useful things for you to check out in addition to the content at Node Bootcamp.

• Windows Azure for Node.JS
• Node Beginner Book
• Node.JS Manual