Node.Js Documentation

Hi akin akcn,

This is a really good question. You're thinking in the right direction. Unfortunately, there's no way to know which docs in particular will be relevant to you, because it will vary hugely depending on what the web application you have planned is like.

For example, you might want to read and write data from files on your server. In this case, you might want to use the Node API called "fs", for "file system". Do you want your application to take parameters from the command line? Then you'll need the "process" API. Do you like to have verbose info dumps when you're trying to find a problem with your app in development? Then you'll want "Debugger".

There's just no way to know in advance what things you might even generally want, without knowing a lot about what you plan to use your application for.

The best thing to do is get very comfortable skimming big bodies of documentation, and learning to build clever Google searches to point you in the right direction. This will be one of the most valuable skills you acquire as you grow into development.

If you want a general idea of what many developers use in their Node servers, look into the npm module "Express". It's a very popular, opinionated collection of tools for putting servers and web apps together. Learning about it will give you some idea about what built in functions of Node might be useful in building an arbitrary web application.

The Full-Stack JavaScript track even has a short course covering Express here: http://teamtreehouse.com/library/express-basics

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