Top 5 Node.js Tutorials & Courses Online — Updated 2020
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Decades ago, Javascript was only considered just as a client-side scripting language. Its full potential was locked in the browser world. At that time it was impossible to use Javascript for building things beyond a website. But then things got changed when Node.js entered the party.
Node.js, as you all know, is a Javascript runtime environment which means that you can run your Javascript code outside the browser like directly in your computer/server itself. This allows developers to use Javascript to accomplish pretty much anything other popular server-side scripting languages like python, ruby, or PHP can do.
Using Node.js you can do all sorts of cool things like reading a file from your computer, creating a server, interacting with databases, automating things, creating cool desktop applications, and almost anything you can imagine by just using your favorite scripting language Javascript!
I think now you understood the power of Node.js and as an aspiring web developer, you should definitely consider learning Node.js sooner than later and 2020 is the best time to do that!
Below you can see the top 5 Best online courses and tutorials to learn Node.js in 2020. I carefully handpicked them from top websites like Udemy, Odin Project, Frontend Masters, and Youtube (free courses). And these courses are taught by the best tutors out there like Maximilian Schwarzmüller, Brad Traversy, Wes Bos, The Net Ninja, Andrew Mead, Mosh, and much more! So you can pick the course you like and start your marvelous Node.js journey from today without the fear of “What if I can’t understand?”. I swear you won’t find any courses better than mentioned here even if you dig Reddit or Quora 😂.
The following courses will not only teach you Node.js, but besides that, they also teach you popular technologies like React, Express JS, MongoDB (Ofcourse Mongoose), and some of them even teach your GraphQL and Deno.js too! And there is a Bonus section at the very bottom, so don’t forget to read that.
Besides Node, If you are interested in learning full-stack Web development, then you can read this article instead of the current one — 9 Best Web Development Courses Online for 2020. And If you are only interested in learning React.js then you can read this instead — Top 5 Online Courses to Learn React JS in 2020 — Best of All.
Now without further ado, let’s explore the top 5 Node.js Tutorials & Courses Online…
1). NodeJS — The Complete Guide (MVC, REST APIs, GraphQL, Deno)
- Instructor — Maximilian Schwarzmüller
- Total Length — 40.5 hours on-demand video
- Students enrolled — More than 97,447
- 4.7 Star Rating (out of 5)
As the name sounds, yes it is a complete guide to learn Node.js. This course will teach you not only Node, but Express, React, GraphQL, MongoDB, and even introduces Deno.js!
The course won’t be boring at all and that’s because of the instructor Maximilian. If you are in this field for a while, then you may have definitely heard of him. He is one of the best instructors out there.
In this course, you’ll not just walk through boring theory and some slides. Instead, you’ll build two major projects: An online shop (including checkout + payments) and a blog.
And the course is beginner friendly and completely up to date. And this is the one I personally took to learn the technology and that’s why I am suggesting it in the first place! So you can take this course without thinking twice.
Topics Covered:
- Node.js Basics & Basic Core Modules
- Express.js
- EJS, Pug, Handlebar
- Working with Files and generating PDFs on the Server (on-the-fly)
- File Up- and Download
- MVC (Model View Controller) Pattern in depth
- Using Node.js with SQL (MySQL) and Sequelize
- Using Node.js with NoSQL (MongoDB) and Mongoose
- Working with Sessions & Cookies
- User Authentication and Authorization
- Sending E-Mails
- Validating User Input
- Data Pagination
- Handling Payments with Stripe.js
- Building REST APIs
- Authentication in REST APIs
- File Upload in REST APIs
- Building GraphQL APIs
- Authentication in GraphQL APIs
- File Upload in GraphQL APIs
- Building a Realtime Node.js App with Websockets
- Automated Testing (Unit Tests)
- Deploying a Node.js Application
- Using TypeScript with Node.js
- Exploring Deno.js
- And much more!
Requirements:
- No Node.js knowledge is required at all!
- Basic JavaScript knowledge is assumed though — you should at least be willing to pick it up whilst going through the course. A JS refresher module exists to bring you up to the latest syntax quickly
- Basic HTML + CSS knowledge helps but is NOT required
Who this course is for:
- Beginner or advanced web developers who want to dive into the backend (server-side) development with NodeJS
- Everyone who’s interested in building modern, scalable and high-performing web applications
- Experienced NodeJS developers who want to dive into specific features like using GraphQL with NodeJS
You can buy this course here. Hope you will love this course!
2). The Complete Node.js Developer Course (3rd Edition)
- Instructors — Andrew Mead, Rob Percival
- Total Length — 35 hours on-demand video
- Students enrolled — More than 208,232
- 4.7 Star Rating (out of 5)
One of the Bestsellers on Udemy. Andrew really knows how to teach. His clear and concise teaching is what really sets his course apart from all the other really good teachers on Udemy. Furthermore, he covers all the essentials in this course in great depth. By depth, I literally mean that.
Of course, there are projects too. You’ll be building four projects:
1. A note-taking app to get your feet wet
2. A weather application that interacts with the MapBox and Dark Sky APIs
3. A task manager REST API complete with user accounts and authentication
4. A real-time chat app with a client-side companion
By the end, you’ll be able to take what you’ve learned and will be able to launch your own Node application!
If you are a person who is dedicated to learning Node.js the hard way, then feel free to take this course. You will not miss an explanation at any part! I can guarantee you that.
Another thing I can guarantee you is that this course will turn definitely turn you into a professional Node developer capable of developing, testing, and deploying real-world production applications. There’s no doubt about that!
Topics Covered:
- Node.js
- Npm
- Asynchronous programming
- ES6/ES7
- MongoDB
- Express
- Socket.IO
- JWT Authentication
- Mongoose
- File and image uploads
- Email sending
- Application deployment with Heroku
- Version control with Git
- GitHub
- REST API Design
- Code testing
- Debugging
- Jest
- And much more.
Requirements:
- A computer (Windows, macOS, or Linux)
- A basic understanding of JavaScript (variables, functions, objects, arrays, if statements)
Who this course is for:
- Anyone looking to launch their own Node applications, switch careers, or freelance as a Node developer
You can buy this course here.
3). NodeJS course | The Odin Project
If you are not familiar with The Odin Project, then first read this:
The Odin Project is one of those “What I wish I had when I was learning” resources. Not everyone has access to a computer science education or the funds to attend an intensive coding school and neither of those is right for everyone anyway. This project is designed to fill in the gap for people who are trying to hack it on their own but still want a high-quality education.
There are so many students who had benefited by learning from The Odin Project. The reason why everyone loves The Odin Project is that it is completely free and fully practical!
The good thing is that they have a Node.js course too! In this course, you’ll learn everything you need to take your JavaScript skills to the server-side. First, you will start from the Node.js basics, then you will gradually move towards learning Express, the most popular back-end JavaScript framework. You will also learn Authentication, how to create APIs, testing, and much more.
Topics Covered:
- Node.js
- Express
- Authentication
- API creation
- Testing and much more.
Requirements:
- A computer (Windows, macOS, or Linux)
- A basic understanding of JavaScript.
Who this course is for:
- Anyone who wants to learn Node.js for free.
You can view the course here.
4). Node.js, Express, MongoDB & More: The Complete Bootcamp 2020
- Instructor — Jonas Schmedtmann
- Total Length — 42 hours on-demand video
- Students enrolled — More than 29,982
- 4.7 Star Rating (out of 5)
Another Udemy Bestseller. This course is the perfect all-in-one package that will take you from a complete beginner to an advanced, highly-skilled Node.js developer.
Like all other courses, this one is completely project-based!
Throughout the course, you will build a complete, beautiful, and feature-rich application, containing both a RESTful API and a server-side rendered website. By building this huge project, you will learn all the skills that you need in order to plan, build, and deploy your own modern back-end applications with Node.js and related technologies.
Topics Covered:
- Node.js
- Express
- MongoDB
- Mongoose
- Server-Side Rendering
- Restful API
- Filtering, Sorting, Pagination
- Crud Operations
- Data Modelling
- Authentication & Authorization
- Security
- Working with GeoSpatial data
- Credit card payments integration
- Uploading Files
- Sending Emails
- Error Handling
- Deployment
- Event Loop
- Blocking & Non-Blocking
- Tips, Tricks & Best Practices
- And much more!
Requirements:
- Absolutely NO understanding of Node or back-end development is required!
- Basic understanding of JavaScript is required (the course contains a section about asynchronous JavaScript with promises and async/await in case you need to get up to speed)
- Basic understanding of HTML is a plus (only for the final part of the course), but NOT a must
- Any computer and OS will work — Windows, macOS, or Linux
Who this course is for:
- For a front-end developer looking to go into back-end development.
- For an experienced Node developer who wants to add new skills missing in other courses: How Node works behind the scenes, advanced data modeling, geospatial data, complete and secure authentication, stripe payments, and more.
- Literally for everyone with some Javascript skills.
You can view the course here.
5). Learn and Understand NodeJS
- Instructor — Anthony Alicea
- Total Length — 13 hours on-demand video
- Students enrolled — More than 104,537
- 4.6 Star Rating (out of 5)
Another course that heavily focuses on teaching you Node.js itself. Little Javascript, little MEAN stack, but much more about Node.js. As the title sounds, this is a NodeJS course. If you want to dive deep under the hood of NodeJS, then there is no other better course than this.
Topics Covered:
- V8 Engine
- NodeJS Core
- Modules, Exports, and Require
- Events
- Asynchronous code, libuv, the event loop, Streams, Files, and more…
- HTTP
- NPM
- Express
- Javascript
- A little bit of MEAN Stack
- Finally a project!
Requirements:
- Basic Javascript knowledge (variables, loops, and basic functions)
- Basic HTML knowledge
- A text editor
Who this course is for:
- Those looking to build a career as a NodeJS developer
- Those desiring to become MEAN stack developers
- Those who don’t have server technology experience but wish to gain this skill
- Those coming from other server technologies (like PHP, ASP.NET, or Ruby on Rails) and want to learn Node
- Those who want to only have to write both client and server code in one language: Javascript
- Those who want to grasp Express.
You can view the course here.
Bonus Section
Besides the above courses mentioned, I have some additional “Honorable Mentions”:
- MERN Stack Front To Back: Full Stack React, Redux & Node.js — by Brad Traversy
- Node with React: Fullstack Web Development — by Stephen Grider
- The Complete Node.js — by Mosh Hamedani
- Learn Node — by Wes Bos
- Node.js Crash Course Tutorial (Youtube) — by The Net Ninja
- Bunch of NodeJS courses in order — from Frontend Masters
Wrapping Up
I hope you enjoyed this blog post.
If you have any doubts or suggestions then please comment them below. Thank you ;)
