Summary

You learned a lot in this chapter about installing Node.js using its command-line tools and running a Node.js server. We also breezed past a lot of details that will be covered later in this book, so be patient.

Specifically, we covered downloading and compiling the Node.js source code, installing Node.js—either for development use in your home directory or for deployment in system directories—and installing npm, the de facto standard package manager used with Node.js. We also saw how to run Node.js scripts or Node.js servers. We then took a look at the new features in ES2015, 2016, and 2017. Finally, we looked at how to use Babel to implement those features in your code.

Now that we've seen how to set up a development environment, we're ready to start working on implementing applications with Node.js. The first step is to learn the basic building blocks of Node.js applications and modules, meaning taking a more careful look at Node.js modules, how they are used, and how to use npm to manage application dependencies. We will cover all of that in the next chapter.