10 Common Mistakes Node JS Developers Make While Developing A Website Neeraj Mishra The Crazy Programmer

Used by some of the most prominent market players like Netflix, Reddit, LinkedIn, PayPal, Amazon and more, there is no doubt that Node JS is a premier web application architecture. It did not take much time for Node JS to become one of the most preferred web development frameworks by companies and developers across the world. Thanks to its amazing capabilities, stability and functionalities, over 43% of the Nodejs developers out there use the programming language to develop solid enterprise applications. Besides, 85% of them deploy it to develop web applications.

Because of its features, developer community and support, Nodejs is preferred by not only big corporates and organizations but by small businesses as well.

Reports reveal that Nodejs development minimizes development costs by 58% and that it can optimize the performance of an app by 50%.

Now, despite these numbers and fascination on Node JS development, there seems to be a wave of confusion in the industry that directly questions the credibility of Node JS. Well, when we stumbled upon such discussions, we decided to dive headfirst into the topic and get to the bottom of what was going on. In our research, we figured out that Node JS was just doing fine and that confusions were stemming from some blunders committed by developers while using Node JS.

That’s why we felt it was important to write this post on some of the most common mistakes Node JS developers make while building a website or an app.

So, if you are a developer recently into Node JS development, this should be your go-to resource.

Let’s get started.

10 Common Node JS Web Development Mistakes You’re Probably Making

Not Focusing On Using Development Tools

One of the primary mistakes developers and freshers make when building websites using Node JS is that they don’t use the necessary development tools. There are tons of modules and tools that make the life of a Node JS developer easier. For instance, whenever a modification is done on the source code, the browser needs to be either refreshed or restarted to see the changes in effect. Without this, developers wouldn’t be looking at their desired outputs and delaying the development time, trying to fix the concern.

Unintentionally Blocking Event Loop

No matter what, we need to accept the fact that Node JS is single-threaded and restricts us from running multiple aspects of our applications at once. So, if you voluntarily or involuntarily invoke a method that blocks the event loop, the entire program freezes. For instance, when you intend to inject a code to NodeJS when the language is attempting to retrieve a document or data from its database, you involuntarily block the event loop. To avoid this, it is ideal if you work on a case basis.

Callback Hell

Otherwise known as deeply nesting callbacks, this happens when there are too many nested callbacks. With this, it becomes extremely difficult for a developer to read, detect and debug their code. Contrary to misconception, however, callback hell can be avoided with the use of promises. No, we aren’t asking you to swear or take an oath but use promises, where a value gets returned to affirm and validate the processing of an asynchronous function. This makes your code look neat and concise.

No Adequate Testing

NodeJS development is only complete when it has been tested for results and performance. So, it is not enough if you only write your code for an app or website you develop but for tests as well. Often overlooked, testing ensures your app is optimized for performance and becomes airtight. Execute repeated tests to avoid pitfalls and if you’re too concerned about writing tests, understand that there are several tools on GitHub such as Mocha and Jasmine that can simplify the process of writing tests and inspecting your code.

Hoping Your Code Would Run Synchronously

Developers new to Node JS might be familiar with synchronous code execution from previous programming languages and frameworks they have worked on. Unless and until specified by a condition or statement, codes get executed one after the other in a series. However, in NodeJS with its callbacks feature, functions might not work well until its impending task is finished.

Keeping Practice Of Writing Long Code

Driven by practice and previous experience, again, developers would often continue to write long codes on Node.js. However, this is where we need to change our approach to writing code. As far as Node.js is concerned, it is better to stick to shorter codes. Keeping your codes precise will make way for seamless and swift execution of them.

Dynamic Code Changes

As a Node JS developer, it is ideal to have a systematic approach to coding. An ideology like Carpe Diem or build-as-you-progress doesn’t work well with this programming language. If you have this mindset, you will end up writing unnecessarily long and complex codes, giving rise to the concern we discussed previously. To keep it concise, have a clear idea of your entire project, its code trajectory, and development phases.

Debugging On Console.log

Like you know, console.log allows you to print literally anything. Well-spaced and arranged, console.log gives you an aesthetic view of your codes. No wonder why developers use it to debug their code. However, you need to understand that as you keep using console.log for debugging purposes, you restart the server and stall the performance of your app. The more you do it, the more unusable your code becomes. It is to avoid instances like these that debugging tools exist. Make use of the Debug Library instead.

Null Monitoring And Profiling

No matter at what stage of the development process you are in, it is always recommended to profile and monitor your Node.js application. A supervisor program that can monitor your program is recommended to all developers out there, who are either developing their app or running it in a local environment. There are tons of services such as Concurix, AppDynamics, and more to handle this for you. They help in monitoring your app and letting you know about the status of it.

Presuming Numbers To Be Integer Data

Numbers on Node.js are not integers but floating points. When you develop apps that require complex calculations such as enterprise apps and more, your calculations could go haywire when you go overboard the floating-point limits. To avoid these, make use of the integer libraries to implement mathematical calculations, functions, and operations.

Wrapping Up

So, these were some of the most common Node.js mistakes developers tend to commit. As you read, how many are you guilty of? It doesn’t matter. What does is a lesson learned. We are sure that your next time on Node.js will be less strenuous and more rewarding. What do you think?

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