How Not to Node.js: A handbook to avoid common Node.js pitfalls and build cleaner, faster, and production-ready apps

Level up from writing code that works to writing code that scales and avoid performance and production issues like a pro Key Features Identify and fix common Node.js anti-patterns before they impact production Avoid performance bottlenecks by understanding Node.js internals Apply proven patterns to write clean, maintainable, and scalable Node.js code Book DescriptionNode.js makes it easy to get started, but just as easy to get things wrong. How Not to Node.js takes a practical, no-nonsense approach to uncovering the most common mistakes developers make, and shows you exactly how to avoid them. The book is structured around real-world anti-patterns, guiding you through how to identify, understand, and fix problematic code. You’ll start by learning how patterns and anti-patterns shape application design, before diving into asynchronous pitfalls, event loop behavior, and error handling. As you progress, you’ll explore architectural concerns such as logging, middleware design, environment management, and API reliability. By the end, you won’t just know how to write Node.js code, you’ll know how to avoid writing bad Node.js code, building applications that are clean, scalable, and production-ready.What you will learn Recognize common JavaScript and Node.js anti-patterns and refactor them effectively Write clean, maintainable code by avoiding common code smells and bad practices Manage environment variables securely and efficiently Build resilient APIs with proper error handling, rate limiting, and response design Diagnose and fix memory leaks using profiling and heap analysis tools Handle asynchronous operations correctly using promises and async/await Who this book is forThis book is for Node.js developers who want to level up from writing code that works to writing code that scales. Whether you’re an early-career developer struggling with asynchronous patterns or an experienced engineer dealing with performance and production issues, this book will help you identify what’s going wrong and how to fix it.

Table of Contents:
Table of Contents

1. Understanding the Concept of Patterns and Anti-Patterns
2. Spotting and Solving Anti-Patterns
3. Staying Away from Smelly Code
4. Dealing with the Most Common Anti-Patterns in Node.js
5. Understanding Promises and Callbacks
6. Dangling Promises and Uncaught Exceptions
7. Dealing with Timers and the Event Loop
8. Best Practices with Event-Based Code
9. Understanding When and How to Log
10. Extracting the Best of Middlewares
11. What are hot and cold functions
12. Error Handling Done Right
13. Creating the Best API with Timeouts, Response Codes, and Rate Limiting
14. Taking Control of Your Environment
15. How the Garbage Collector can be your Friend
16. Knowing your Objects with Object Shapes and Hidden Classes
17. Memory Leaks and Where They Come From
18. Summary and finalization