Node.js for Professionals: Building Reliable Back-End Services with Express, npm, and SQLite

Class Duration

21 hours of live training delivered over 3-5 days to accommodate your scheduling needs

Student Prerequisites

Good understanding of programming concepts including asynchronous programming
Experience with JavaScript programming

Target Audience

This course is for professional software engineers, tech leads, and solutions architects who build or maintain back-end services and internal tools. Teams adopting Node.js for API development, data processing, or integration work will benefit from its pragmatic focus on performance, reliability, and maintainability. Managers and L&D leaders seeking faster delivery, cleaner deployments, and reduced support costs will find the curriculum aligned to business outcomes and modern engineering practices.

Description

This live, hands-on course equips professional developers to build production-ready back-end services with Node.js. You will master the Node runtime (modules, globals, and the event loop), write and execute scripts, manage dependencies with npm and semantic versioning, and work safely with Git and VS Code. Through practical labs you’ll handle files, streams, buffers, and promises; stand up HTTP servers; design REST APIs with Express and middleware; and persist data with SQLite using migrations and CRUD patterns. By the end, you’ll ship maintainable, testable services that improve delivery speed and reduce operational risk.

Learning Outcomes

Set up a modern Node.js development environment with Git, VS Code, and project markdown conventions.
Execute JavaScript with Node, applying classes and arrow functions effectively in server code.
Use CommonJS modules (static and dynamic) and Node globals to structure reusable components.
Explain and apply the Node event loop and EventEmitter to write non-blocking, observable services.
Manage dependencies with npm: semver, package.json, local vs global installs, and lifecycle scripts.
Work with the filesystem using fs, paths, streams, pipes, chaining, buffers, and promises for robust I/O.
Create and migrate SQLite databases; implement CRUD operations from Node applications.
Build HTTP services and RESTful APIs using native http and Express, routes, parameters, 404s, errors, and custom middleware; speed development with nodemon.

Training Materials

All students receive comprehensive courseware covering all topics in the course. Courseware is distributed via GitHub in the form of documentation and extensive code samples. Students practice the topics covered through challenging hands-on lab exercises.

Software Requirements

Students will need a free, personal GitHub account to access the courseware. No local student setup is required, this course is delivered with GitHub Codespaces. The free allotment of Codespaces hours from GitHub is sufficient to complete the course.

Training Topics

Getting Started

What is Node.js?
Node Development Environment Setup
Basics of Git
Overview of Visual Studio Code (VS Code)
How markdown files are used in projects
Committing code in your own branch

Executing Scripts with Node

Installing and updating Node
Ways to execute JavaScript using Node
Review Classes
Review Arrow Functions

Modules & Globals

What are modules?
Static Modules
Dynamic Modules
CommonJS Modules

Event loop

Using the event loop
How to require core modules
Understanding the Event Loop
Using the Event Emitter

Using the Node Package Manager (npm)

Background of NPM and its usage
The meaning and usage of packages
Understanding how to use semver
Creating and using package.json files
Installing, Listing, Uninstalling and Updating Modules
Global vs. local package installation
When to use --save and --save-dev

Working with the filesystem and Promises

Require-ing core file modules
Relative path information
Using the fs module to:
Open, read, write files
View and create directories
Working with Promises
Working with Streams
Writing and Reading from Stream Resources
Piping and Chaining Streams
Using buffers for binary data

Database Access with Node

Working with the SQLite database
Creating a database and tables with Node
Database CRUD with Node
Creating a migration for managing database changes

Creating a Simple HTTP Server to receive requests

Reviewing the HTTP protocol
Discussing HTTP Request methods
Reviewing Response Codes
Creating a HTTP basic server
Installing and using nodemon for faster development

Getting Started with the Express Module

Overview of Express
Using Express to create a server
What is Middleware?
Creating routes for GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE
Creating a 404 route and handing other errors
Path parameters
Creating a REST API
Create custom middleware