Hey, hey CodeNewbie Community! Nice to meet you π
I had the pleasure of speaking with @saron on this weekβs episode of the CodeNewbie Podcast:
This episode was all about a topic near and dear to my heart and career: Node.js β what it is and when you might use it!
Iβd love to answer any questions you have about me, Node.js, Heroku, getting into coding, etc!
Here are a few things about me to get the conversation goingβ¦
- Iβm a Lead Software Engineer at Heroku, but I've also worked at Blue Apron. π οΈ
- I studied advertising at the University of Miami. βοΈ
- Iβm currently studying Computer Science for a MS at NYU
- I'm a proud volunteer at Women Who Code. π§
Top comments (17)
Danielle, thanks so much for doing this AMA.
I love JavaScript, node.js, and TypeScript, so Iβm curious if you have any thoughts on the Deno project from node.js creator Ryan Dahl?
A secure JavaScript and TypeScript runtime
Deno
Deno is a simple, modern and secure runtime for JavaScript and TypeScript that uses V8 and is built in Rust.
Features
Install
Shell (Mac, Linux):
curl -fsSL https://deno.land/x/install/install.sh | shPowerShell (Windows):
Homebrew (Mac):
Chocolatey (Windows):
Scoop (Windows):
Build and install from source using Cargo:
See deno_install and releases for other options.
Getting Started
Try running a simple program:
Or a more complex one:
I'm so glad you asked this! I wish I had mentioned Deno on the podcast - it completely slipped my mind and is the obvious alternative for Node.js right now :) I haven't played around with it much except for on my local machine, but it looks promising and I like that it has JavaScript AND first-class TypeScript support.
As a follow up, what's your favourite newer (or older) EcmaScript language feature?
This might be lame, but I think fat arrow functions were a game changer. I like not having to declare a
selfor bind to athis. π"Exciting AMA, Danielle! Your journey and expertise in Node.js are inspiring. What advice do you have for someone just starting with coding, especially in the ΰΉΰΈ§ΰΉΰΈΰΈΰΈ£ΰΈ ΰΈΰΈ±ΰΈΰΈΰΈ±ΰΈ Node.js space.
I got a non-tech one for ya β How do you feel about living in NYC versus Miami? I realize that could be a big question, so feel free to limit it to one positive and one negative from each place. π
Ha! I like them both equally for different reasons. I am definitely missing the Miami weather during the winters, but I also love not having to drive and own a car in New York!
Haha, definitely both great perks! π
Fore a newbie, what's the balance between "picking Node as something to learn and not overthinking it", or getting to know other web development frameworks, with the risk of choice overload?
That's a good question! Fore a newbie, I would look at a job listing of a company I want to work at, and work backwards. There are probably a list of languages/frameworks that they are looking for and use. Use that list to do a little research on what technologies interest you the most from that list, and then focus on that!
Also, don't get overwhelmed by the number of languages/frameworks that are out there. Just focus on learning one or two at a time. There are so many topics out there so it's easy to get FOMO, but try to stay focused only on what you are learning before moving onto the next thing.
Your role sounds cool! Are you mostly working on Node.js to get it working well with Heroku, or do you work on maintaining Node.js while doing some Heroku things on the side?
Hey Andy! I do both - I work on the Node.js platform for Heroku, and I am also a collaborator and on the release team for the Node.js project. The responsibilities create a lot of overlap for my Heroku work and open source work.
What tips would you give someone who just started learning javascript? (or a js framework?)
Hi! I would give 2 pieces of advice:
1) Do NOT get distracted/FOMO from all the tools/libraries out there. What is important is what you have decided to focus on for the job/project that you want. If X company invests in Y framework, become an expert.
2) Understand how everything fits together. Every front end framework draws influence from another one. Much of what is back end JavaScript builds on top of previous OSS projects. Understanding how everything is connected will give you a better handle on the larger JavaScript + Node.js + front end ecosystem.
Why did you decide to pursue a masters in CS?
I wanted pursue a Computer Science degree since I didn't have one. I originally started with Cybersecurity, but I recently switched to CS with a focus on security so that I would have more flexibility in the curriculum.
How do you see the future of Node.js evolving, especially in the context of cloud-native development and Strands NYT microservices architectures?