APIs, Databases, and Production Deployment

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Node.js lets you build fast, scalable backends in the language you already know. It also makes it easy to block the event loop, lose a promise, or sell the same seat twice.

This book takes you from how Node.js really works to a production system with PostgreSQL, Redis, background jobs, real-time updates, observability, security, and a Kubernetes deployment pipeline — with one realistic running example, the Harbor Tickets event-ticketing platform, carried through every chapter.

WHAT'S INSIDE
➔ 550 pages · 28 chapters in 6 parts + 4 appendices
➔ The event loop, libuv, promises, streams, and modern TypeScript for backend work
➔ HTTP APIs with node:http, Express, and Fastify; validation with Zod and JSON Schema; OpenAPI
➔ Authentication and authorization, WebSockets, Server-Sent Events, GraphQL, and gRPC
➔ PostgreSQL with pg, Prisma, Drizzle, and Knex; transactions and row locks; MongoDB; Redis caching, rate limiting, and locks
➔ BullMQ background jobs, event-driven design, the outbox pattern, webhooks, and idempotency
➔ Testing, Pino logging, OpenTelemetry, profiling, worker threads, security, Docker, Kubernetes, and CI/CD
➔ 2 end-to-end case studies: a flash-sale-safe checkout API and an AI assistant endpoint with streaming
➔ Tips, notes, warnings, and a Key Takeaways box in every chapter

Table Of Contents

PART I — NODE.JS FOUNDATIONS

• Ch 1 · Why Node.js for Backend Development
• Ch 2 · The Event Loop, Asynchronous I/O, and libuv
• Ch 3 · Modern JavaScript and TypeScript for Backend Developers
• Ch 4 · Modules, Packages, and Project Setup
• Ch 5 · Async Patterns: Promises, async/await, EventEmitter, and Streams

PART II — BUILDING HTTP APIS

• Ch 6 · HTTP Fundamentals with node:http and the Request/Response Lifecycle
• Ch 7 · Express in Depth: Routing, Middleware, and Error Handling
• Ch 8 · Fastify: Schemas, Plugins, Hooks, and Serialization
• Ch 9 · REST API Design, Validation, and OpenAPI
• Ch 10 · Authentication and Authorization
• Ch 11 · Real-Time APIs: WebSockets, Server-Sent Events, and Socket.IO

PART III — DATA AND PERSISTENCE

• Ch 12 · PostgreSQL with node-postgres: Pools, Queries, and Parameters
• Ch 13 · ORMs and Query Builders: Prisma, Drizzle, and Knex
• Ch 14 · Transactions, Concurrency Control, Migrations, and Data Integrity
• Ch 15 · MongoDB with the Official Driver and Mongoose
• Ch 16 · Caching, Rate Limiting, and Distributed Locks with Redis

PART IV — ARCHITECTURE AND BACKGROUND WORK

• Ch 17 · Structuring Node.js Applications: Layers, Modules, and Dependency Injection
• Ch 18 · Background Jobs, Queues, and Scheduling
• Ch 19 · Event-Driven Services: Messaging, the Outbox Pattern, Webhooks, and Idempotency
• Ch 20 · GraphQL and gRPC in Node.js
• Ch 21 · Testing Node.js Services: node:test, Vitest, Supertest, and Testcontainers

PART V — PRODUCTION READINESS

• Ch 22 · Configuration, Structured Logging with Pino, and Error Handling in Production
• Ch 23 · Observability: Metrics, Tracing, and OpenTelemetry
• Ch 24 · Performance: Profiling, Worker Threads, Clustering, and Memory Leaks
• Ch 25 · Security for Node.js APIs
• Ch 26 · Containers, Kubernetes, CI/CD, and Graceful Shutdown

PART VI — CASE STUDIES

• Ch 27 · Case Study: Building the Harbor Tickets Checkout API End to End
• Ch 28 · Case Study: Adding an AI Assistant Endpoint with Streaming Responses

APPENDICES

• App A · Node.js and npm Cheat Sheet
• App B · Service Template and Reference
• App C · Production Checklist
• App D · Glossary

WHO IT IS FOR
Frontend developers moving to the backend, backend developers coming from Java, C#, Python, PHP, or Go, Node.js developers who want the full production picture, and tech leads setting standards for Node.js teams.

FORMAT
PDF (A4), 550 pages, English, clickable table of contents and PDF bookmarks. 1st Edition, 2026. Published by thenexbooks.

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