🟢 Node Fundamentals

Learn JavaScript + Node.js from zero to hero — Malaysian style! 🇲🇾

A complete, beginner-friendly JavaScript + Node.js learning guide with hands-on lessons, exercises, and solutions. Written in fun Malaysian English so you won't fall asleep reading code. Confirm shiok one!

New to programming? Start at Lesson 00 and go in order. Part 1 is pure JavaScript — you don't need to know anything before starting.

🗺️ The Grand Master Roadmap

This repo is Phase 1 of a three-phase journey:

• Phase 1 — THIS repo (node-fundamentals): JavaScript + Node core → confident Node developer (CLI tools, file scripts, simple servers)
• Phase 2 — node-backend (coming soon): Express/Fastify, REST APIs, databases, auth, testing, deployment → professional backend developer
• Phase 3 — node-advanced (coming soon): streams deep-dive, worker threads, performance, security, TypeScript → master

📚 What you'll learn

Part 1 — JavaScript (Lessons 00–11): the language itself, running in Node.

#	Lesson	Topics
00	Hello Node!	What is Node, node vs browser, running scripts
01	Variables & Types	let, const, var, typeof, numbers, strings, booleans
02	Operators & Coercion	Arithmetic, == vs ===, truthiness, short-circuit
03	Strings & Template Literals	Methods, slicing, template literals, .includes()
04	Arrays	map, filter, reduce, spread, destructuring
05	Objects & JSON	Object literals, destructuring, JSON.parse/stringify
06	Control Flow	if/else, switch, ternary, logical operators
07	Loops	for, while, for...of, for...in, break, continue
08	Functions	function declarations, arrows, callbacks, default params
09	Scope & Closures	Block scope, hoisting, closures, IIFE
10	Error Handling	try/catch/finally, throw, custom errors
11	Async JavaScript	Callbacks, Promises, async/await — the bridge to Node

Part 2 — Node Runtime (Lessons 12–19): what makes Node special.

#	Lesson	Topics
12	Modules	CommonJS require, module.exports, ESM import
13	npm	init, install, package.json, scripts, semver
14	File System	fs read/write, path, sync vs async
15	Events	EventEmitter, on/emit, once
16	Streams & Buffers	Buffers, readable/writable streams, pipe
17	HTTP & Servers	http.createServer, routes, JSON API
18	CLI & Process	process.argv, env, exit codes, stdin
19	Capstone: Todo CLI	Build a real todo app with file persistence

✅ Requirements

• Node.js 24 LTS or newer — download from nodejs.org
• Nothing else! No frameworks, no dependencies. Everything runs with plain node.

Check your version:

node --version   # should print v24.x.x or higher

🚀 Quick Start

1. Clone the repo:

   git clone https://github.com/subimpact/node-fundamentals.git
   cd node-fundamentals

2. Read and run lessons in order:

   node lessons/00_hello_node.js
   node lessons/01_variables_and_types.js
   # ... and so on

   (Not sure if your output is right? Check EXPECTED_OUTPUTS.md!)

3. Try the exercises:

   # Open the exercise file, fill in the TODOs
   # Then run it. There are built-in Malaysian checkers to guide you!
   node exercises/01_variables_exercises.js
   
   # Check the solutions when you're done:
   node solutions/01_variables_solutions.js

4. Run everything at once (lessons + solutions must all pass):

   npm test

📁 Project Structure

node-fundamentals/
├── README.md              ← You are here!
├── LICENSE                ← MIT License
├── .gitignore             ← Git ignore rules
├── package.json           ← Project metadata + npm test
├── EXPECTED_OUTPUTS.md    ← What each lesson should print
├── CHANGELOG.md           ← Version history
├── CONTRIBUTING.md        ← How to help out
├── lessons/               ← 20 lesson files (read + run these!)
├── exercises/             ← 13 exercise files with built-in checkers
├── solutions/             ← 13 solution files
└── scripts/
    └── verify.js          ← Runs every lesson + solution (npm test)

🎓 How the exercises work

Each exercise file has TODO comments where you write your code, and a checker at the bottom that tests your answers automatically:

$ node exercises/04_arrays_exercises.js
✅ double([1, 2, 3]) — betul!
✅ evens([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]) — betul!
❌ total([1, 2, 3])
   got:      6
   expected: 7

No setup, no test framework — just run the file and see how you did. Solutions are in solutions/ when you're stuck.

🤝 Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md — terima kasih in advance! 🇲🇾

📜 License

MIT — use it, share it, teach with it. Just keep the attribution.