Node.js for beginners 1 - Setting up

Let's forget about all the background details for now. What you need to know is that Node.js is based on JavaScript and mainly targets at writing server side code with JavaScript. That's it. Let's start writing our first Node.js application.

Step 1 - Setting up the local environment.

You need two basic things to do this.
    a. A text editor
    b. Node.js binary installables (Don't worry, I'll explain)

Installing on linux environment

Execute the following commands on the terminal to extract the required files on your computer.

$ cd /tmp
$ wget http://nodejs.org/dist/v0.12.0/node-v0.12.0-linux-x64.tar.gz
$ tar xvfz node-v0.12.0-linux-x64.tar.gz
$ mkdir -p /usr/local/nodejs
$ mv node-v0.12.0-linux-x64/* /usr/local/nodejs

and then add the url to the PATH environment variable.

export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/nodejs/bin

Installation on windows

Installation on windows is pretty easy. Just run the installation msi and you are done!

Step 2 - Verifying the installation

Create a JavaScript file, with the name verify.js on your computer with the following content in it. (you can use any name for the file. Just make sure to use the same name in the next step also)

console.log('Welcome! Node.js is installed properly');

Then navigate to the directory from the terminal and execute the following command.

$ node verify.js

If Node.js is installed properly, you will see our welcome message on your terminal. Now you can go ahead with our next tutorial

Link

Home Page - Node.js for Beginners