Adventures in MEAN Stack World

Introduction

This is just an introduction of Node.js.
In other words 'N' of the MEAN Stack.
This is the second part of the series of articles which I will write about the MEAN.
Here is the first part of this article MEAN Stack Development with MongoDB.

What is Node.js ?

Node.js is a platform built on Chrome's JavaScript runtime for easily building fast, scalable network applications.

It uses an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model that makes it lightweight and efficient.

It's perfect for data-intensive real-time applications that run across distributed devices.

How to Install Node.js on Windows ?

Step 1 :

Installing Node.js on a Windows machine is a simple task that can be easily accomplished using the standalone installer.

Just go to Node.js download page and download the right .msi file (32-bit or 64-bit ).

I have downloaded the 64-bit version.

Step 2 :

After downloading the installer, just double click it.

If you get any security dialog boxes, just click on the Run button and the installation wizard should start.

You will be prompted with an installation screens similar to the following screenshots.

Congratulations !. You have successfully installed the Node.js.

How to Run Node.js ?

Step 1 :

You have to open the Nods.js Command Line Interface (CLI).

Just go to the Nods.js installed folder and run the Node application as shown below.

This will start the Node.js CLI, which will wait for a JavaScript input.

Step 2 :

To test the Node.js installation, run the following command on CLI.

console.log('Node is up and running!');

Congratulations ! You have just created your fist Node.js application.

Step 3 :

To stop the CLI, press CTRL + D

What is Node Package Manager (NPM) ?

Node.js is a platform, which means its features and APIs are kept to a minimum.

To achieve more complex functionality, it uses a module system that allows you to extend the platform.

The best way to install, update, and remove Node.js modules is using the NPM.

Conveniently, NPM is installed during the Node.js installation process.

What are the Key Features of NPM ?

A registry of packages to browse, download, and install third-party modules.

A Command Line Interface (CLI) tool to manage local and global packages.

What are the Installation modes on NPM ?

It is important to remember that NPM has two installation modes.

Which are Local mode and Global mode.

Local Mode

The default local mode is used more often and installs the third-party packages in a local node_modules folder placed inside your application folder.

It has no effect system-wise, and is used to install the packages your application needs, without polluting your system with unnecessary global files.

Global Mode

The global mode is used to install packages you want Node.js to use globally.

Usually these are CLI tools, such as Gulp.

Most of the time, the package author will specifically instruct you to install the package globally. Therefore, whenever in doubt, use the local mode.

The global mode will usually install the packages in the C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\npm\ node_modules folder for Windows-based systems, making it available to any Node.js application running on the system.

How to Install a package using NPM ?

Step 1 :

Once you find the right package, you'll be able to install it using the npm install command as follows.

Local Mode :

Run 'Command Prompt' with “Administrative Privileges”.

Go to your Node.js App's root folder.

npm install <Package Unique Name>

e.g.

D:\Freelance Work\My Blog\Mean Introduction\NodeJs\Test>npm install express

The preceding command will install the latest stable version of the Express package in your local node_modules folder as follows.

When a package has dependencies, NPM will automatically resolve those dependencies, installing the required packages in a node_modules folder inside the package folder as follows.

Global Mode :

Run 'Command Prompt' with “Administrative Privileges”.
Installing a module globally is similar to its local counterpart, but you'll have to add the –g flag as follows.

npm install –g <Package Unique Name>

e.g.
D:\Freelance Work\My Blog\Mean Introduction\NodeJs\Test>npm install -g express

The preceding command will install the latest stable version of the Express package in your Roaming folder as follows.
Note that the "AppData" folder is Hidden by default.

How to Remove a package using NPM ?

To remove an installed package, you have to navigate to your application folder and run the following command according to the mode.

Local Mode :

npm uninstall < Package Unique Name>

e.g.

D:\Freelance Work\My Blog\Mean Introduction\NodeJs\Test>npm uninstall express

Global Mode :
npm uninstall –g < Package Unique Name>

e.g.
D:\Freelance Work\My Blog\Mean Introduction\NodeJs\Test>npm uninstall –g express

How to Update a package using NPM ?

To update a package to its latest version, issue the following command according to the mode.

Local Mode :

npm update < Package Unique Name>

e.g.

D:\Freelance Work\My Blog\Mean Introduction\NodeJs\Test>npm update express

Global Mode :
npm update –g < Package Unique Name>

e.g.
D:\Freelance Work\My Blog\Mean Introduction\NodeJs\Test>npm update –g express

What is a package.json file ?

The package.json file is basically a JSON file that contains the different attributes you'll need to describe about your application properties.
Your application will need to use several packages, and so you'll need a better way to manage these package dependencies.
For this purpose, NPM allows you to use a configuration file named package.json in the root folder of your application.
In your package.json file, you can define various metadata properties of your application, including properties such as the name, version, and author of your application.
This is also where you define your application dependencies.
Let's say our application is using the Express and Gulp packages.So then we will have a package.json file as follows.

{
"name" : "MEAN App",
"version" : "0.0.1",
"author" : "Sampath Lokuge",
"dependencies" : {

"express" : "latest",

"gulp" : "latest"

}

}

Important Note :

Your application name and version properties are required.
If you remove these properties then NPM will not work properly.
The "latest" keyword to tell NPM to install the latest versions of the packages.

How to Create a package.json file ?

Go to your Node.js App's root folder.

npm init

e.g.

D:\Freelance Work\My Blog\Mean Introduction\NodeJs\Test>npm init

NPM will ask you a few questions about your application and will automatically create a new package.json file for you.
A sample screenshot as follows.

How to Install the package.json dependencies ?

install :

If you need to install Gulp,then change the package.json file's dependencies section as follows.

"dependencies": {

"express": "^4.11.2",

"gulp": "latest"

}

In the preceding code example, I have used the "latest" keyword to tell NPM to install the latest versions of the Gulp package.
Navigate to your application's root folder and use the "npm install" command as follows.

npm install

e.g.

D:\Freelance Work\My Blog\Mean Introduction\NodeJs\Test>npm install

NPM will automatically detect your package.json file and will install all your application dependencies.
You can find out them under a local "node_modules" folder.

update :

An alternative and sometimes better approach to install your dependencies is to use the "npm update" command.
This will install any missing packages and will update all of your existing dependencies to their specified version.

npm update

e.g.

D:\Freelance Work\My Blog\Mean Introduction\NodeJs\Test> npm update

How to Update the package.json file ?

Another great feature of the npm install command is the ability to install a new package and save the package information as a dependency in your package.json file.
This can be accomplished using the --save optional flag when installing a specific package.
For example, to install the latest version of Express and save it as a dependency, you can issue the following command.

npm install express --save

e.g.

D:\Freelance Work\My Blog\Mean Introduction\NodeJs\Test> npm install express --save

In the preceding command will install the latest version of Express and will add the express package as a dependency to your package.json file.

{

"name": "MEAN",

"version": "0.0.1",

"dependencies": {

"express": "^4.11.2",

}

References

MEAN Stack Development with MongoDB

Conclusion

In this article, You learned how to install Node.js and usage of the Node.js CLI.
You learned about NPM and discovered how to use it to download and install Node.js packages.
You also learned how to easily manage your application dependencies using the package.json file.
In the next article,we'll discuss the basics of Express.js.
I hope this helps to You.Comments and feedback greatly appreciated.

This is just an introduction of MEAN Stack and MongoDB.
I'll write more about MEAN Stack in the future.
This is the first part of the series of articles which I will write about the MEAN.

What is MEAN Stack ?

The MEAN stack is a powerful, full-stack JavaScript solution.
That contains 4 major building blocks or components.
Which are MongoDB, Express, AngularJS and Node.js

What is MongoDB ?

MongoDB is an open source, document-oriented database.
In MongoDB you can store JSON-like documents with dynamic schemas.

What is Express ?

Express is a minimal and flexible Node.js web application framework.
It provides a robust set of features for building single and multi-page, and hybrid web applications.

What is AngularJs ?

AngularJS is a web client framework.
It extends the HTML vocabulary for your application.
The resulting environment is extraordinarily expressive, readable, and quick to develop.

What is Node.js ?

Node.js is a platform built on Chrome's JavaScript runtime for easily building fast, scalable network applications.
It uses an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model that makes it lightweight and efficient.
It's perfect for data-intensive real-time applications that run across distributed devices.

What are the advantages of using MEAN stack ?

A single language is used throughout the application.Which is JavaScript.
All the parts of the application can support and often enforce the use of the MVC architecture.
Serialization and deserialization of data structures is no longer needed hence data marshalling is done using JSON objects.

How to Install MongoDB on Windows ?

Step 1 :

My laptop is having Win 8.1 OS.So I'm going to download the Windows 64 bit Msi version.
You can download it from Here.

Step 2 :

Just double-click the Msi file.
Then you'll see a set of screens which will appear to guide you through the installation process.
I accepted default settings for all the screens.

Step 3 :

The default path for the installation as shown below.

Step 4 :

I have created a new folder named as 'mongodb' on 'c:\' drive.
This step is optional.You can run MongoDB from any folder as you wish.
After that contents have been moved into that folder as shown below.

How to Run MongoDB ?

Step 1 :

MongoDB requires a 'data' directory to store all the data.
MongoDB’s default data directory path is 'c:\data\db'.
I have created a 'data\db' folder on 'C' drive.It looks like below.

Step 2 :

Run 'Command Prompt' with “Administrative Privileges”.
To start MongoDB, run 'mongod.exe' on command prompt as shown below.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>cd C:\mongodb\bin

C:\mongodb\bin>mongod.exe

You can see that the main MongoDB service where it starts listening to the default port 27017.
Which means it starts the main MongoDB database process.
The 'waiting for connections' message in the console output indicates that the mongod.exe process is running successfully.

How to Create a Windows Service for MongoDB ?

We can use Windows Service for running MongoDB automatically after every reboot cycle.
Which is the more popular approach for running MongoDB on windows machines.
Before we begin setting up MongoDB as a Windows Service, it's considered good practice to specify a path for the MongoDB log and configuration files.Let's do it first.

Step 1 :

Create a directory inside the 'data' folder as 'log'.
This is for the log files.It's shown as below.

Step 2 :

Let's create a configuration file.
This configuration file can include any of the configuration options for mongod.
But it must include a valid setting for the 'logpath' which we created on Step 1.
The following command creates a configuration file, specifying both the 'logpath' and the 'dbpath' settings in the configuration file.

C:\>echo logpath=c:\data\log\mongod.log> "C:\mongodb\mongod.cfg"

C:\>echo dbpath=c:\data\db>> "C:\mongodb\mongod.cfg"

It creates 'mongod.cfg' file inside the 'C:\mongodb' folder.
It looks like below.

Step 3 :

Let's create a MongoDB service.
For that,you have to run the below mentioned command on command prompt (which is having administrator privileges ( Run as administrator)).

C:\> sc.exe create MongoDB binPath= "\"C:\mongodb\bin\mongod.exe\" --service --config=\"C:\mongodb\mongod.cfg\"" DisplayName= "MongoDB 2.6 Standard" start= "auto"

Note : sc.exe requires a space between “=” and the configuration values (eg “binPath= ”), and a “” to escape double quotes.

If the service was successfully created, you will get the following log message.

[SC] CreateService SUCCESS

Step 4 : Run

We have installed our MongoDB service.Now you can run it by executing the following command in the command prompt window.

C:\> net start MongoDB

Step 5 : Stop

If you need to stop the MongoDB service, use the following command.

C:\> net stop MongoDB

How to use the MongoDB shell ?

You can find out the MongoDB shell inside the 'C:\mongodb\bin' folder.
Which allows you to interact with MongoDB server instance using the command line.

Step 1 :

To start the shell, you have to navigate to the mongodb bin folder as shown below.

C:\> cd C:\mongodb\bin

Step 2 :

After that you can run the 'mongo' service as shown below.

C:\mongodb\bin> mongo

If you successfully installed MongoDB, the shell will automatically connect to your local instance, using the 'test' database.
You will see a console output similar to the following screenshot.

Step 3 :

Let's do some MongoDB data manipulations.
Type following command on the MongoDB shell.

> db.books.insert({title: "Hello MEAN World"})

The preceding command will create a new 'books' collection and insert a JSON object containing a 'title' property.

To retrieve the book object, execute the following command.

> db.books.find()

The shell console will output the following message.

{ "_id" : ObjectId("54cc8cfedc0606c101f00e95"), "title" : "Hello MEAN World" }

It means your MongoDB instance is working properly and you have successfully managed to interact with it using the MongoDB shell.
Congratulations !. You have done that.

Step 4 :

If you need to exit from the shell,just type 'exit'.

> exit

What is Robomongo ?

Robomongo is a shell-centric cross-platform open source MongoDB management tool (i.e. Admin GUI).
Robomongo embeds the same JavaScript engine that powers MongoDB's mongo shell.
Everything you can write in mongo shell where you can write in Robomongo.

How to Install Robomongo on Windows ?

You can download the Robomongo Windows Installer from here.

Just double click the downloaded installer set-up and accept the default settings for all the screens.That's it.

How to work with the Robomongo ?

Step 1 :

Just double click the auto created 'Robomongo' short cut on the desk top.
It'll open the GUI of the Robomongo.

Step 2 :

After that you have to create a connection string for the MongoDB database.
You can use 'Create' link to create a new database connection as shown below.

I have given a connection name as 'MongoDbTest' and Address with port number (i.e. port of MongoDB server) as 'localhost : 27017'.
You can test your connection by using 'Test' button as shown above.
After that you can use the 'Save' button to save the changes.

Step 3 :

You can do huge set of MongoDB operations by using this awesome Robomongo GUI.
Just a few of them are shown below.

Here I have used the 'test' database with the 'books' collection where we created earlier.
If you need to see the full list of features, please visit their home page here.

References

MEAN Home

MongoDB Home

Robomongo Home

Conclusion

In this article, you learned basics of MEAN stack development.
You also learned how to install MongoDB and how to connect to your local database instance using the MongoDB shell.
You also learned how to install and use the MongoDB management tool Robomongo GUI.
In the next article,we'll discuss how to install Node.js and the basics of Node.js.
I hope this helps to You.Comments and feedback greatly appreciated.

Adventures in MEAN Stack World

Basics of Node.js for MEAN Stack Development

Introduction

What is Node.js ?

How to Install Node.js on Windows ?

Step 1 :

How to Run Node.js ?

What is Node Package Manager (NPM) ?

What are the Key Features of NPM ?

What are the Installation modes on NPM ?

How to Install a package using NPM ?

How to Remove a package using NPM ?

How to Update a package using NPM ?

What is a package.json file ?

How to Create a package.json file ?

How to Install the package.json dependencies ?

How to Update the package.json file ?

References

Related Post

Conclusion

MEAN Stack Development with MongoDB

Introduction

What is MEAN Stack ?

What is MongoDB ?

What is Express ?

What is AngularJs ?

What is Node.js ?

What are the advantages of using MEAN stack ?

How to Install MongoDB on Windows ?

How to Run MongoDB ?

How to Create a Windows Service for MongoDB ?

How to use the MongoDB shell ?

What is Robomongo ?

How to Install Robomongo on Windows ?

How to work with the Robomongo ?

References

Conclusion