Web Scraping with a Headless Browser: A Puppeteer Tutorial
In this article, Toptal Freelance JavaScript Developer Nick Chikovani shows how easy it is to perform web scraping using a headless browser. Specifically, he provides a Puppeteer tutorial, going through a few examples of how to control Google Chrome to take screenshots and gather structured data.
Nick Chikovani
Integration and End-to-end Tests Made Easy with Node.js and MongoDB
Dealing with a real database for integration and end-to-end testing can pose some challenges. One way of working around them is to use an in-memory database that integrates well with the testing framework and provides APIs to manipulate its state from test code.
In this article, Toptal Freelance Software Engineer Mikhail Angelov shows how you can write integration and end-to-end tests easily for your Node.js and MongoDB application without having to write complicated setup/teardown code.
Mikhail Angelov
Implementing Serverless Node.js Functions Using Google Cloud
Serverless computing is an architecture style in which the code is executed in a cloud platform where we don’t need to worry about the hardware and software setup, security, performance, and CPU idle time costs. It’s an advancement of cloud computing that goes beyond infrastructure that abstracts the software environment as well. It means no configuration is required to run the code.
Vignes Aruljothi
Server-side I/O Performance: Node vs. PHP vs. Java vs. Go
Understanding the Input/Output (I/O) model of your application can mean the difference between an application that deals with the load it is subjected to, and one that crumples in the face of real-world uses cases. Perhaps while your application is small and does not serve high loads, it may matter far less. But as your application’s traffic load increases, working with the wrong I/O model can get you into a world of hurt.
Brad Peabody
A Node.js Guide to Actually Doing Integration Tests
Your software isn’t fully tested until you write integration tests for it. While unit tests help ensure that functions are properly written, integration tests help ensure that the system is working properly as a whole.
In this article, Toptal Software Engineer Luka Blažecki uses Node.js to explain why integration testing is important for every development platform and how to write clean, composable integration tests.
Luka Blažecki
Express, Koa, Meteor, Sails.js: A Node.js Framework Comparison
Some platforms have an overwhelming number of options for web frameworks. Node.js, the event-driven server-side JavaScript environment, is one such platform. Whether it’s the minimalist Express or the full-blown MVC web framework Sails.js, Node.js seems to have it all.
In this article, Toptal Freelance Software Engineer Chuoxian Yang explores four of the most popular Node.js web frameworks and discusses how each framework stands out from the rest of the crowd in Node.js.
Chuoxian Yang
Programming Visually with Node-RED: Wiring Up the Internet of Things with Ease
Node-RED, built on Node.js, is a tool designed for programming visually without having to write any code. It comes equipped with a browser-based flow editor that allows hardware devices and APIs to be connected with each other easily, making it an ideal tool for rapidly developing programs for IoT devices.
In this article, Toptal freelance software engineer Jesús Darío Rivera walks us through the process of building a simple program using Node-RED and Netbeast along with a virtual light bulb plugin that mimics the capabilities of a real smart bulb.
Jesus Dario
Gulp Under the Hood: Building a Stream-based Task Automation Tool
Streams are a powerful construct in Node.js and in I/O driven programming in general. Gulp, a tool for task automation, leverages streams in elegant ways to allow developers to enhance their build workflow.
In this article, Toptal engineer Mikhail Angelov gives us some insight into how Gulp works with streams by showing us step-by-step how to build a Gulp-like build automation tool.
Mikhail Angelov
NodeOS: The JavaScript Based Operating System
An operating system written in Node.js? Yes, it exists, and it’s called NodeOS. Think for a second about the progress Node.js has made in the short time it’s been around. Now, imagine the same thing happening with an operating system.
In this article, Toptal engineer Danny Morabito introduces us to NodeOS, guiding us with a step-by-step tutorial on how to create our first NodeOS application using nothing more than Node.js.
Danny Morabito
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