Excellent article. I like how you went over all of the what some may consider very basic things (even using npm) and what each step of the JavaScript does. I find too many authors gloss over some parts of their code and I'm then left searching the interwebs to try to find what that part was and why it was glossed over.

Thanks Gareth. I'm a big believer in assuming folks know nothing at first. :)

the article was a pretty good welcome to node. I've been a long time cf guy who has lightly tinkered with a few test node projects and this would have been something good to follow to get started.

I'm really interested in seeing a "from mssql to mongo" article showing if you this is how you did it in mssql and now this is how you do the same thing in mongo.

My next article is about the "move to production" - basically a look at how I did it using AppFog. I think a look at data persistence w/ MySQL and Mongo would rock.

Over all - my gut says a series of shit based on what I know in CF and how it implies to Node would be of use to readers.

I'll be tuning in! Coming from IIS/CF/MSSQL when I initially dived into node, I was looking to figure our how some very basic things such as using SSL, iis style web logs, connecting to a mssql db, sending emails through a traditional smtp server, etc.... At the time, there were no "tested" solutions for MSSQL, found out that there were a few plugins for logs, but most people build their own and there were pluggins for just about everything else.

The thing that I prefer coldfusion for is that, everything is already there. I don't have to research and see which module works, and what the bugs are, and if its active or abandoned. But I guess over time you get a feel for things.