Forming a complete mental model of how Node.js works under the hood will allow you to become a more effective developer and fully take advantage of what it has to offer.
We’ll go beneath the surface of features the parts of Node that are so ubiquitous they’re often taken for granted - improve your debugging skills by understanding what’s happening behind the scenes.
You’ll be able to reason about important design decisions behind Node’s architecture and grasp not just how they work, also but why they were implemented - gain a clear picture of Node’s advantages and disadvantages as a server-side programming language.
The strategies and concepts covered in this course are crucial for individuals preparing for a path to mid or senior-level coding roles.
What is Node.js? In the first section of the course, we’ll learn from first principles what makes up this technology and develop a mental model of its inner-workings. We’ll explore how it allows developers to use JavaScript - originally a browser-exclusive, client-side-only language - in conjunction with its native C/C++ code to create servers, receive/respond to client requests, and interact with OS features such as the file system.
This section will take a more comprehensive look at the event loop Node uses to maintain its event-based, single-threaded pattern. We’ll review the event-loop cycle in-depth and gain familiarity with the several different queues used for processing and prioritizing the execution of asynchronous callbacks.
Node is event-driven, meaning that it follows a pattern of detecting “events” and responding to them. Here we’ll explore Node’s implementation of this pattern and the “EventEmitter” class that underlies many of its key features. We’ll see how this event pattern drives some of Node’s core functionality, such as the ability to process data in streams - and we’ll take an in-depth look at the stream module to gain a full understanding of the different types of streams (readable, writable, duplex, transform), including Node’s use of buffers and built-in handling of memory usage.
Javascript may be a single-threaded language, but the internals of the Node.js runtime are multithreaded. Node.js unlocks parallel computing through the Child Process and Worker Thread APIs and the libUV threadpool. This section will take a ‘bottom-up’ approach to instantiating the Node.js runtime from the OS Kernel and a single spawned OS Process all the way up to ‘userland’, where Javascript is executed. From these first principles, we will introduce the underlying multi-threaded nature of Node.js, followed by a series of diagrams stepping through the execution of parallel computing tasks and their myriad use cases.
One of Node’s key design features is its module pattern, which allows the developer to import isolated pieces of code as individual “modules,” both to organize one’s own codebase and to utilize open-source packages and libraries written by others. We’ll break down how this pattern works on an architectural level - from Node’s behind-the-scenes process of preparing to run our JavaScript code, to what it actually means to “require” in a file - to discover how the standard practice of splitting an application into modules affects how and where our code runs.
Node.js is typically used in conjunction with a framework (such as Express or Koa) to allow for cleaner code and provide a smoother, more efficient developer experience, but it’s important to understand what these technologies are doing for us behind the scenes - and which parts of Node they abstract away from us. In this section, we’ll identify pain points that come with using “vanilla” Node and examine strategies that popular frameworks use to solve these problems.
The tuition for Under the Hood Courses is $1,700. If you are a Codesmith Immersive graduate, your tuition is 50% off. Please reach out to our admissions team at underthehood@codesmith.io if you have any questions.
This remote course is designed for developers who want to gain a deep understanding of Node. Proficiency in Javascript is required for the course. For example, you should be familiar with Object-Oriented Javascript programming and understand Javascript Closures. If you’re looking to brush up on these concepts, Codesmith offers free weekly workshops on these topics. Previous experience with Node.js is not required, though is nice to have.
Our application process is designed to determine that students have the prerequisite knowledge to succeed in the course and we can provide additional learning resources if needed. We are looking for team players who are motivated and committed to furthering their coding expertise.
Codesmith's team of curriculum creators are all dedicated to creating and maintaining an exceptional program curriculum, designed to teach you aspects of the technologies you can use immediately in your current role, or to help you land your next one.
For those applying to Node.js Under the Hood, an advanced level of JavaScript knowledge is recommended, including a good understanding of OOP in JavaScript, closures, and asynchronous JavaScript. The application consists of one short essay question and an optional coding challenge. Please note - you must have at least a high school diploma or equivalent (i.e. GED or placement exam) to enroll in this course.
If your application is successful, you will be invited to complete a phone interview. In the interview, we will chat about your background and knowledge of the prerequisite core technologies for this course.
After completing your phone interview, you will receive an admissions decision within 2-3 business days. If you are accepted into the program, you will receive all the details to confirm your enrollment.
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