Review: Web Development with MongoDB and NodeJS

Summary: An excellent guide to both web development (in general), as well as NodeJS and MongoDB specifically.

This eBook manages to do almost everything right.  By the end of the book, you’ll have been led through the entire process of designing and testing a web application using Node.js and MongoDB, as well as having some extra information in the last few chapters.  The one problem I ran into was in Chapter 4 (Express.js).  The current version of npm (at the time of writing: 2.1.2) did not allow me to install a working version of Express.js 3.5.1, due to changes in dependency packages.  Instead, I had to follow the instructions while taking into account the information at the end of chapter 4 (on Express.js version 4).

Apart from this one small setback (which, in all honesty, cannot be attributed to the author) the book is written very clearly, and laid out in the way one would approach such a project.  The formatting of the book allows the reader to clearly understand what sections of code are relevant to the explanation, and the supplied downloads offer working examples for each chapter (while some changes may be required for the Express.JS files).  By the end of the book, you should have a good idea of how to approach such a project, as well as having a working application.  From there, you should have a good foundation for starting a project of your own design.

If you’re interested in gathering as much information as possible on this topic, the book also offers relevant links and as much extra information as can be included without detracting from the actual material of the book.  Along with this abundance of information, the formatting of the book (the pub version at least) offered a very thorough table of contents, and a linked index section at the back of the book.  Couple this with the ability to search the ebook, you should be able to find any relevant information as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The book can be found here, if you're interested.

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