Node.js Core Complete Course: Beginner to Advanced Guide for Modern Backend Development

 

🌟 Node.js Core Course Outline (Beginner to Advanced)

🔹 Introduction

Node.js is a powerful, open-source, cross-platform JavaScript runtime built on Chrome's V8 engine. It allows developers to build high-performance server-side applications using JavaScript. This course is designed to take you from absolute beginner to advanced Node.js developer, covering core concepts, APIs, asynchronous programming, and modern web development practices.

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Module 1: Getting Started with Node.js

• What is Node.js & why use it?

• Installing Node.js & NPM (Node Package Manager)

• Node.js architecture & event-driven model

• REPL & running Node.js scripts

• Node.js process object

• Understanding modules & CommonJS

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Module 2: Core JavaScript Concepts for Node.js

• Variables, Data Types & Scope

• Functions, Arrow Functions, Closures

• Objects, Arrays, and ES6+ features

• Promises, Async/Await

• Event Loop & Callbacks

• Error Handling (try/catch)

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Module 3: Node.js Modules & Packages

• Built-in modules (fs, path, os, http, url, util)

• Creating custom modules

• Export & import concepts (CommonJS vs ES Modules)

• Package management with NPM/Yarn

• Semantic versioning & package.json management

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Module 4: File System & Streams

• Reading & Writing Files (synchronous & asynchronous)

• Working with Directories

• Streams: Readable, Writable, Duplex, Transform

• Buffer & Binary Data handling

• File monitoring & watching

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Module 5: Events & EventEmitter

• Event-driven programming concept

• EventEmitter class

• Custom events & listeners

• Handling multiple events asynchronously

• Using built-in events in Node.js modules

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Module 6: HTTP & Web Server Development

• HTTP module & creating a simple server

• Handling requests & responses

• Query parameters & URL parsing

• Routing basics

• Sending JSON & HTML responses

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Module 7: Asynchronous Programming in Node.js

• Callback functions & handling async errors

• Promises & chaining

• Async/Await in Node.js

• Handling multiple asynchronous operations

• Error-first callback pattern

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Module 8: Working with Databases

• Connecting Node.js to databases (MongoDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL)

• CRUD operations

• Using Mongoose with MongoDB

• Querying & indexing

• Data validation and error handling

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Module 9: Express.js Framework

• Introduction to Express.js

• Setting up an Express server

• Routing & route parameters

• Middleware: built-in, third-party, and custom

• Template engines (EJS, Pug, Handlebars)

• Error handling middleware

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Module 10: Authentication & Authorization

• JWT Authentication

• Session-based authentication

• Role-based access control

• Password hashing & security best practices

• OAuth integration

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Module 11: Advanced Node.js Features

• Environment variables & configuration management

• Logging & monitoring (Winston, Morgan)

• Working with Child Processes & Cluster module

• Timers & Scheduler (setTimeout, setInterval, cron jobs)

• Debugging Node.js applications

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Module 12: RESTful APIs & Web Services

• Creating REST APIs with Express

• Request & Response lifecycle

• Validation & error handling

• API versioning

• Consuming APIs using Axios or Fetch

• Testing APIs with Postman & Jest

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Module 13: Real-Time Applications with WebSockets

• Introduction to WebSockets

• Socket.IO setup & configuration

• Broadcasting events

• Building a real-time chat application

• Scaling real-time apps

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Module 14: Deployment & Performance Optimization

• Hosting Node.js applications on cloud platforms (Heroku, AWS, Azure, DigitalOcean)

• Using PM2 process manager

• Load balancing & clustering

• Performance tuning & caching

• Security best practices (Helmet, CORS, rate limiting)

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🔹 Conclusion

By completing this Node.js course, you’ll have end-to-end knowledge of Node.js Core, Express.js, APIs, real-time communication, and database integration. You’ll be able to build scalable and secure backend applications, preparing you for modern full-stack or backend developer roles.