Now, no matter how sophisticated and refined technology is, the developer always has a chance to ruin everything with poor coding techniques and style. With that said, let’s discover the best Node.js practices and learn how to become a better Node js developer
As far as JS back-end is concerned, you can hardly deny that Node.js is the most popular runtime environment for server-side JavaScript. Released in May of 2009, it is now more than 10 years out there delivering quality event-driven runtime built on the V8 JS engine.
Node JS Development Best Practices: Become a Node.js Ninja
Writing clean and maintainable code is not solely cooperation and professional skills. We can compare this with keeping your room tidy. Of course, you can live in a mess. However, tidying your home is paving the way to becoming a better human being. It is the same in the node js software development.
Enough of chit-chat, it’s time to make your Node js programming better. Let’s dig in.
1. Typing Question: To Type or Not to Type
The recent JS development research has shown that the total lack of typing in JavaScript brings additional logical errors to your code. And the more code lines appear in your dev environment, the more difficult it will be to trace the issue.
Typing some pieces of your Node.js code may address the problem. Hear us out: we don’t say you should turn your codebase into the strongly typed piece of solid matter. We all appreciate the JavaScript flexibility and don’t want to revoke the highlights of this magnificent language.
All we offer you is to consider typing the most vulnerable parts of your code. This way you make sure no typing errors will be left behind unnoticed. We recommend using TypeScript as the core technology for this task.
2. Node JS Coding Style: Use Linters
Every Node.js developer appreciates when the code he interacts with is tidy and well-structured. This is where linters may come in handy. They are the development tools for analyzing your code quality. Linters consist of multiple analysis parameters:
Conventions. Depending on the linter standard, the linting tool may highlight your uppercase camel style, spaces instead of tabs, etc.
Logic checkers. Linters can track unused variables and the ones used before initiation;
Custom rules. Don’t want to keep any console logs in your code? Set your linter and forget about the manual search through the codebase.
You can also implement the style conventions accepted worldwide. Check out Airbnb, Google, JQuery, StandardJS, or any other styles you find comfortable to work with. Just set the ESlint packages and plugins and start writing your Node.js clearest crystal code.
Read also: Best 10 Platforms for Node.JS Hosting
3. There Is No Such Thing as Too Much Error Handling: One More Catch Is Never Surplus
The secret of the most stable Node.js mobile apps is the sophisticated error and exception handling. Your Node.js engineering team should go through literally every vulnerable case and implement the error caught.
The best practice to make sure your app won’t crash is to put the catch method at the end of every method chain. You’ll never know where the server will raise the next error.
4. Use Logging Libraries: Remove Manual Logging From Your Solution
There is little sense in logging library integration when you are working on a small-scale project. A couple of console logs won’t do much harm. Another story is when you meet thousands of them in your solution. This is where things get messy.
For instance, the Loggy library provides a broad range of performance analysis tools. It allows both fixing existing problems and preventing new ones. If you are interested in quality logging for your medium-sized or large project, make sure to find a logging library that suits you the most.
5. Learn New API Technology: Broaden Your Perspectives
Now, before you say anything: yes, we know, you can barely find an English word that is not a JavaScript library name today. it can be pretty difficult to say whether the promising framework will survive on the market. However, it doesn’t mean you should just learn nothing.
Hear us out: the best thing to do is to find a relatively mature JS framework or library that survived the overhyped phase and proved to be a solid development tool. Whether it’s Meteor, Socket.io, Koa, or any other API framework, pick a tool that appeals to you the most, learn its essentials. Maybe you’ll love it and put it in your “favorite frameworks” list.
6. Work on Your App Security: Find and Eliminate Vulnerabilities
One of the most noticeable differences between the quality Node.js developer and a coding hobo is their attitude to security. Responsible software development companies consider software security a paramount objective. And so should you.
There are several ways to test out your project vulnerabilities:
- Use security testing tools. You can find numerous security testing tools on the web. They will provide you with various vulnerability analyzing functionality: from the basic penetration tests to advanced testing techniques;
- Learn new attacker tricks. Think like an attacker, figure out how they do their job nowadays, and perform the relevant adjustments to your system;
- Organize threat meetings. Spend some time with your colleagues discovering the weak spots in your security and finding ways to fix the issue.
The Bottom Line
Being a decent Node.js developer isn’t always about following the current trends and learning newly released technologies. It’s also about working on your code quality, broadening your software architect skills, and thinking about your code maintainability, scalability, and security.
Drop us a line if you need some expert-level issues to solve. Our professionals at Gravum will provide you with a quality solution in a timely manner. Reach out to us today to opt for the modern approach of developing and delivering a software product.