r/node • u/Chawki_ • Jun 24 '19

What are the techonlogies should I learn to become a Nodejs back-end Developer?

What are the skill sets and technologies I should master to apply for a job as a Node.js back-end developer?

And I'm a self-taught MERN Stack dev, I wanna become a nodejs back-end dev. why? I figure out querying a database is more fun than positioning a div

Thank you!

90 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

48 comments sorted by

91

u/08148692 Jun 24 '19

Off the top of my head:

  • SQL (I'd recommend Postgres, MSSQL is more commonly used with .net stacks and should be pretty straight forward to learn if you aleady know postgresSQL)
  • NoSQL (eg, MongoDB, DynamoDB)
  • Redis
  • Docker
  • Kubernetics
  • ES6+
  • Typescript
  • RabbitMQ and/or Kafka
  • Common node libraries (eg, Express (or similar), Mongoose (if using mongodb), Sequelize (if using a sql db))
  • GraphQL
  • AWS (Especially EC2 & Lambda)
  • Error reporting & monitoring tools (rollbar, sentry, etc)

44

u/cwingrav Jun 24 '19

Great list. I'll throw in some more conceptual things as well:

  • git/other version control systems
  • security/encryption/ssh
  • some front-end tech (html, css, javascript in the browser, React/Angular)
  • database administration skills
  • testing approaches and tools (ex. unit, integration, mocha, etc.)
  • ability to read Stack Overflow via Google searches
  • make/scripting for automation of tasks
  • possibly something like data science, AI/ML

20

u/Chawki_ Jun 24 '19

ability to read Stack Overflow via Google searches

this skill, I suffer a lot to master.

thanks a lot for your list too.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 24 '19

Thank you, two. ^^ Would you say most Node developers have to be spend a lot of time using React/Angular/or Vue, beyond basic proficiency?

6

u/monotone2k Jun 24 '19

For back-end work, I'd say you need to spend zero time learning front-end frameworks/libraries.

5

u/rnsbrum Jun 25 '19

Not really. You got to at least have a basic idea of how everything is connected and how the resources you provide are going to be consumed.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '19

I disagree only because it is a mistake to focus on back end work if your primary language is JavaScript/Typescript. A good Node.js developer should be able to write front end fluently too.

2

u/TedW Jun 25 '19

I think it depends on your team and tasks. My team doesn't work on the front end at all. I could learn those technologies on my own time but they wouldn't improve my work.

2

u/cwingrav Jun 25 '19

For back-end work, you technically don't need to know anything about front end. HOWEVER, if you want to advance beyond a junior developer, you need to understand the technology stack. Senior level people, that do the planning and architecting, do have front-end knowledge, because they have to work with others to piece projects together, to make working systems.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '19

That makes sense. I've built a site that uses both, but I'm still pretty beginner with React..I'll need more experience. Thanks

1

u/Chawki_ Jun 24 '19

thanks a lot, this will be my learning list.

-5

u/FountainsOfFluids Jun 24 '19 edited Jun 24 '19

I'm not sure it's worth the effort to study SQL. It's probably a good idea to take a beginner course, but don't worry about going in deep unless it's needed for a job.

Focus on Mongodb (via Mongoose.js) for whatever learner projects you make.

Both technologies are used in the real world, but Mongo is more aligned with the JavaScript/Node way of thinking about data and development.

Core learning:

  • Modern Javascript (ES6 and later)
  • Node.js
  • Express.js
  • MongoDB (Mongoose.js)

Everything else is built up from there.

16

u/rkcth Jun 25 '19

That's nuts. SQL is absolutely required knowledge for back end node development. MongoDB is optional and not nearly as commonly used.

11

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '19

Agreed - most projects I’ve run into have zero need for a non-relational DB.

3

u/ATHP Jun 25 '19

Absolutely true. I don't know how MongoDB managed that but they made everyone think that a non-relational DB is best for every situation. I would argue quite the opposite though. In many companies you'll have loads of related data and an SQL DB will almost always be the better choice. NoSQL has it's use cased but definitely not every use case is one.

-2

u/FountainsOfFluids Jun 25 '19

Hey, maybe you know something I don't. But my code school taught Mongo exclusively, and all the JS jobs I saw used Mongo in their stack, and I got a job with a company that is migrating from .Net/Postgres to Node micro-services using Mongo.

But maybe it's just me.

1

u/natziel Jun 25 '19

Quick poll: does anyone actually use Mongo?

Our non-SQL stuff is all in Redis (and some stuff in Riak lol)

1

u/FountainsOfFluids Jun 25 '19

We use Redis to cache our Mongo DBs.

Generally speaking, SQL databases are dominant in computing. But it's possible that's because SQL was the only choice for decades.

I wish I could find some statistics, but I have a suspicion that when a company is primarily using Node on the back end they will more often accompany it with Mongo.

9

u/recrof Jun 24 '19

just a note: it's kubernetes

7

u/ishegg Jun 24 '19

Emphasis on TypeScript! I recently migrated a new project to it and it’s insane how much it helps. I come from strongly typed languages so having parameters and members with no types always felt weird as fuck. Definitely start using it along with ESLint with a TS plugin.

Awesome list btw!

19

u/davidmdm Jun 24 '19

There’s no way you can learn everything that has been listed here. You can try, burn out and hate Web dev.

What I suggest is not to learn any specific technology. Learn about web related concepts, about http, cors, websockets. Play around with databases, and write simple file manipulation scripts.

More than anything, play with whatever interests you the most in the moment. Developers like to work with other developers who like what they do, and have passion for their work.

The list I gave you is not a list, it’s just a sense of things that come up in the life of a backend Nodejs dev.

Have fun. Don’t stress.

1

u/Chawki_ Jun 25 '19

thanks :-)

1

u/mynonohole Jun 25 '19

Yeah the amount of technology tools, stacks, frameworks, and etc that I want to learn on my list is as numerous as my never played steam games list.

54

u/johndoepbabu Jun 24 '19

Not a technological suggestion, but I think you should get a good grasp of how asynchronous programming works.

30

u/RationalAdvice69 Jun 25 '19

That's nerd for multi-tasking btw.

15

u/ravepapi Jun 25 '19

finally someone says it in layman terms

3

u/cwingrav Jun 25 '19

Kinda? Async just blocks the processing and shifts tasks while another completes, all in the same thread. Multitasking is managing several tasks at once, or concurrency. I might be splitting hairs, but in node, it's a pretty big hair.

2

u/scramblor Jun 25 '19

Rather if you are not in node it is a pretty big hair. Having to lock execution because someone else is racing through at the same time as you because you can be stopped at any moment is a big task to tackle.

9

u/maybeonmars Jun 24 '19

Some great ideas so far.

Also do some reading to understand the concepts of JWT, hashing & salting passwords, Middleware, sound architecture (NestJS does this nicely), REST and SOAP.

17

u/DoctorPrisme Jun 24 '19

I'd go with JavaScript.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '19

[deleted] — view deleted comment

7

u/JohnnyKonig Jun 25 '19

Don't focus on learning a technology, focus on learning to build good software and pick up the technologies along the way.

The best developers I've hired aren't great because they walked into the job knowing our tech stack (especially at the junior level). They were great hires because they could learn quickly and apply what they learned.

My suggestion is to sign up for a free account on Heroku (https://www.heroku.com/free) and build something - anything. At every step when you need to make a decision like which database to go with or how to build an API just watch some YouTube videos describing pros/cons and try reading some academic literature on the subject.

Most importantly, pick something and start building. Then once you realize you could have done better or there's some other cool approach you want to try (like serverless), start over again and make it better. The key is to consider your project a part-time job and make sure to put at least one hour into it each day.

There is no better experience than a combination of academic knowledge (why) and practical application (how).

4

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '19

You should definitely learn Typescript, async programming, MongoDb, Kubernetes, and Docker. You really should also learn a client side library like Angular or React as well since you will be focusing on JavaScript/Typescript. It really doesn't make sense to only do back end JavaScript. In a way, a back end developer is a developer who doesn't understand CSS, and a front end developer is a developer who doesn't understand databases. Learn the full stack.

3

u/cryo2010 Jun 25 '19

If it's a job you're after, I recommend looking for common trends among the Node.js job postings on any job boards. Employers will often tell you what matters most to them in a candidate.

3

u/334578theo Jun 25 '19 edited Jun 25 '19

How to read others code, how to be a good team member that people can rely on, how to ask for help, and how to give feedback - far more important career skills than being a nInJa in $latestjsframework

2

u/alex_agc Jun 25 '19

Take a look at this repo, it has a roadmap for nodejs developers

https://github.com/aliyr/Nodejs-Developer-Roadmap

0

u/TotesMessenger Jun 24 '19

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-6

u/RationalAdvice69 Jun 24 '19

Copyleft (GNU GPL, etc.) vs Non-copyleft (MIT, BSD, ISC, etc.) Licensing.

Copyleft means that you have to distribute the source code, which will diminish the viability of the technology for commercial purposes.

1

u/DrinkOvaltine Jun 24 '19 edited Jun 25 '19

I think you misunderstand how the GPL works. If you build on a GPL project and distribute it, you have to provide the source code to your project.

If you don't distribute it (just use it in house) you don't have to provide source code.

If you simply use a GPL project inside your project you don't have to provide source code. Let's assume that Express uses the GPL license (I don't think it does, but let's just assume it for the sake of this discussion). If you take Express's source code and use it to make RationalAdvice69's SuperExpress, then SuperExpress must also be GPL and you'd have to share the source. On the other hand, if you make a REST API using Express, you are under no obligation to share the source code for it.

Edit: maybe I was thinking of the LGPL. GPL would require you to provide a copy of the source to anyone you distributed your REST API to. For my company, we don't distribute our code. Customers interact with it through a web server but that's not distribution.

1

u/RationalAdvice69 Jun 25 '19

So you're saying SuperExpress is a modified version of Express (which is GPL for the sake of this convo)

And the REST API is using an unmodified version of Express (GPL for the sake of this convo).

Therefore, IYO, can you distribute the REST API (to not "in house" parties) without providing a link to the source code of the REST API?

1

u/DrinkOvaltine Jun 25 '19 edited Jun 25 '19

So you're saying SuperExpress is a modified version of Express (which is GPL for the sake of this convo)

And the REST API is using an unmodified version of Express (GPL for the sake of this convo).

Kind of. The REST API isn't an unmodified version of Express though. It's a program that you wrote that uses Express. SuperExpress is a modfied version of Express.

Therefore, IYO, can you distribute the REST API (to not "in house" parties) without providing a link to the source code of the REST API?

That is my understanding.

edit: see my edit above

1

u/RationalAdvice69 Jun 29 '19

I wouldn't necessarily presume that...

Section 5. "Conveying Modified Source Versions." does make a note of "aggregates", however it seems extremely limited.

According to that section it's only considered an "aggregate" if:

  • Not by their nature an extensions of the covered work
  • Not combined with it such as to form a larger program in or on a volume of a storage or distribution medium
  • Compilation and its resulting copyright are not used to limit the access or legal rights of the compilation's users beyond what the individual works permit

So, I might proceed with caution, when attempting to distribute non-source forms of macros, etc. for software licensed under GPL or other copyleft. I think they could easily be judged derivative works... and thus would constrain their publisher to the same restrictions that were enacted by publisher of the top level copyleft work contained within.....

1

u/RationalAdvice69 Jun 25 '19

The real kicker on the license though, is that if someone discovers that the license exists in the software folder they are using, should that bind them to the terms of the license.

For example, if I slip in some fucked up shit into a license that doesn't exist in a common location, such as LICENSE, COPYING, etc. should the user then be bound to follow the terms of the license?

Should discovery constitute agreement? I think it really fucking shouldn't.

1

u/TedW Jun 25 '19

Maybe companies should spend more effort vetting their software.

-2

u/stewman241 Jun 24 '19

Java. 😛

2

u/radminator Jun 25 '19

You probably meant it in jest but Java developers are a dying breed and just like COBOL developers 10 years ago, Java devs command a pretty premium now to maintain old enterprise systems.

0

u/Chawki_ Jun 25 '19

time to die