Once you start poking around with Node.js, you want to run it all the time like an Apache site. Sitting at localhost:3000 feels so artificial. But the journey to a seamless Node site on Mac OS is as arduous as the quest to return the One Ring.
Spoiler: you’re Boromir.
This weekend I helped a coworker with a Node Knockout 48 hour programming competition. It taught me two things: one, I do not have the constitution for programming marathons; and two, that specification documents are essential before starting programming. Oh, and something about Node.js I suppose.
I didn’t do anything on the Node side. Just some page styling and a tiny amount of front-end JavaScript hinting. But it was inspiring to see my compatriots bang out Facebook integration and a game engine over two days. Maximum cowboy coding but perfectly acceptable for a time-limited competition.