First presented at DevConf.ru, this presentation makes the case for Node.js as the best platform for user engagement, and discusses Cloud9 IDE's open-source platform for Node apps, Architect.

1. Matt Pardee, Developer Evangelist
@matt_pardee
http://c9.io

2. What is Cloud9 IDE?
• Full-blooded IDE in the browser
• BitBucket and Github
• FTP
• Deploy your apps
• Run and debug Node.js (stepper, call
stack, watchers, live execute)
• Basic autocomplete and JavaScript
validation

3. Building production-quality apps
with Node.js

4. Making the case for Node.js
The User

5. “You have to start with the
customer experience and work
backwards to the technology.”
- Steve Jobs

6. The User
• Web apps aren’t the only use for Node, but...
• Web apps have the most potential to effect change
• Why? It’s about people
• The old metric was speed
• The new metric is engagement

7. Engagement starts with a proper foundation
SOCKET.IO

8. Node.js
Node.js is a platform for easily building fast,
scalable network applications.
Node.js uses an event-driven, non-blocking
I/O model.

9. A match made in /dev/heaven
SOCKET.IO & NODE.JS

10. Cloud9. Powered by node.js.
• What does a user look like to Cloud9?
• Cloning codebases
• Debugging node.js apps
• Running “pwd”, “mkdir”, “npm”, “git”, “hg” in the CLI
• Deploying an application

11. A great user experience requires:
non-blocking execution
&
bi-directional communication

12. Building production-quality apps
with Node.js, part II
Scaling

13. Scaling is successful when...
the container expands, and
it’s easy to expand

14. What needs to scale?
1.Infrastructure
2.Codebase

15. What needs to scale?
1.Infrastructure (of course)
2.Codebase

16. Scaling your Node.js codebase
with Architect
http://github.com/c9/architect

17. Architect
• A simple yet powerful plugin system for large-scale
node apps
• A plugin may provide one or more services
• A plugin’s services is exposed via register
• Each plugin can communicate with other plugins

18. Architect : A Simple Example
1. Config.js specifies plugins & options
module.exports = [
{ packagePath: "architect-http", port: 8080 },
{ packagePath: "architect-http-static", root:
"www" },
"./plugins/calculator",
"./plugins/db",
"./plugins/auth"
]
2. Application entry point (server.js) initiates architect
var path = require('path');
var architect = require("architect");
var configPath = path.join(__dirname, "config.js");
var config = architect.loadConfig(configPath);
architect.createApp(config, function (err, app) {});

19. Architect : A Simple Example
3. Auth plugin registers its interface
module.exports = function setup(options, imports, register) {
// "database" was a service this plugin consumes
var db = imports.database;
register(null, {
// "auth" is a service this plugin provides
auth: {
users: function (callback) {
db.keys(callback);
},
authenticate: function (username, password, callback) {
db.get(username, function (user) {
if (!(user && user.password === password)) {
return callback();
}
callback(user);
});
}
}
});
};

20. Architect : What’s so great?
• Plugin system creates a pool of shared resources
Adds to the pool
Draws from the pool
• Plugins are reusable
• Plugins can be either in the repo or as NPM packages
• All your existing uses for Node are still in tact

21. Wrap-Up
• Node.js is brilliant for modern web apps
• If your most important metric is user engagement, choose node for at
least one part of your app
• github.com/c9/architect for your next node application
• Check out c9.io for major updates coming at the end of the month