About this book • Shell scripting with Node.js

1 About this book

1.1 Why should I read this book?
1.2 What knowledge is required to read this book?
1.3 Buying and previewing this book
- 1.3.1 How can I buy this book?
- 1.3.2 How can I preview the book?
1.4 About the author
1.5 Acknowledgements

This chapter helps you decide whether or not this book is of interest to you.

1.1 Why should I read this book?

This book is about shell scripting with Node.js. You will learn:

How Node.js works:
- Its foundations: its architecture, its event loop, etc.
- Its API: How to use its global variables and modules.
What npm packages (the de-facto standard for JavaScript packages) are.
How to use npm (the package manager bundled with Node.js) to:
- Install and manage packages.
- Create and publish packages.
How to write cross-platform package scripts for running development tasks such as generating artifacts and running tests.
How to use all of the aforementioned knowledge to create and deploy cross-platform shell scripts.

1.2 What knowledge is required to read this book?

You should be familiar with JavaScript – especially:

ECMAScript modules: importing and exporting values, etc.
Asynchronous JavaScript: Promises, async functions, etc.

My book on JavaScript, “JavaScript for impatient programmers” is free to read online:

It has a chapter on modules.
It covers asynchronous JavaScript in a series of chapters, starting with “Asynchronous programming in JavaScript”.

1.3 Buying and previewing this book

1.3.1 How can I buy this book?

You can buy a package with ebooks. They come in these formats (all without DRM):

PDF
HTML
EPUB
MOBI

1.3.2 How can I preview the book?

The HTML version is free to read online.
On the homepage of this book, there are extensive previews for all ebook versions of this book.

1.4 About the author

Dr. Axel Rauschmayer specializes in JavaScript and web development. He has been developing web applications since 1995. In 1999, he was technical manager at a German internet startup that later expanded internationally. In 2006, he held his first talk on Ajax. In 2010, he received a PhD in Informatics from the University of Munich.

Since 2009, he has been blogging about web development at 2ality.com and has written several books on JavaScript. He has held trainings and talks for companies such as eBay, Bank of America, and O’Reilly Media.

He lives in Munich, Germany.

1.5 Acknowledgements

Cover: Hex Hexagonal Abstract by CreativeMagic