Packt Publishing has recently released “Instant Node.js Starter“, written by prolific open source programmer and active NPM contributor Pedro Teixeira.  If you are a beginner JavaScript programmer that is interested in getting your feet wet with server side code, this book is for you.

It is split up into two parts: A quick start tutorial that will help you learn the basics and the top five features you need to know about in Node.js (modules, callback functions, the event emitter, streams, and NPM).

Quick Start

No time wasted here. In the first five minutes of reading, you will have a “Hello World” HTTP server up and running. Teixeira also does a great job explaining what each line of code does and how it contributes to the whole program.

Top Five Features

Teixeira nails it with the top five features. He demonstrates the most widely used features with simple and easy to understand examples.

Conclusion

Overall this book is a great introduction to Node.js and a stepping stone to getting you started on your first Node.js project.

The book finishes up with useful a compilation of community resources to help you explore related topics and continue learning.