Getting Started with Node.js: Hello World

This is a basic tutorial for how to get started with Node.js and run node javascript files. 

Text Editor

There are really no fancy IDE's for Javascript. A nice Javacscript editor that I like is Sublime Text 2. 

Hello Command Line

If you want to use Node.js then you should get used to the command line. Node is meant to run on servers, and most servers are accessed through command line. But you don't need any special programs for that. You can use terminal on mac or run cmd on windows. You should get used to working in command line since you'll be using it a lot working with Node.js. you'll need to get the actual executable file called node that you can run in order to run a javascript file as a node file.
First, you'll have to download the node exectuable. 

Getting Started

If you downloaded it on mac, run the installer and follow the prompts. It will normally install to /usr/local/bin so let's go there. 

cd /usr/local/bin

I like to copy the node executable to a folder where I want to work with node js projects. This might be a good time to make a folder in your directory where you want to work with your own Node.js files. After that copy the node file over to your new folder using the cp command. Replace the second parameter with the path to the folder where you want "node" to be.  

cp node /Users/jimLynch/node-things

Then move into that new directory.

cd /Users/jimLynch/node-things

Ok, now we're ready to make a node.js file! Boot up sublime and let's get started! Plug this single line into your editor, and save it as Hello.js in the same folder where you copied the node executable. 

console.log("Hello Node World!")

Once you've saved that file, just go back to your command line application and run it. You can run javascript files by entering "node " and the same of the javascript file to run. The ".js" extension is optional. After you cd down to the directory with node and the file just created, enter this into the command line:

node Hello.js      // Hello Node World!

This should run the "Hello Node World" text that you entered in the the console.log() call from the javascript file. 

Where to Go From Here

This short tutorial showed you the basics for getting started with Node.js and running a javascript file on a server. Now you can take this power and put whatever you want inside the Hello.js file. Use multiple javascript files and external libraries to create something awesome! Good luck!