Level: Introductory
Look at why Node.js is the perfect framework for building a fast, slick little URL shortening service.
From simple, utilitarian services that take those long, cumbersome URIs and shorten them into a shorter link for embedding in Twitter, to novelty services that allow you to personalize and track clicks for measuring impressions, there are no shortage of URL shortening services today on the web.
While the APIs and user experience for these services are very simple, have you ever wondered about the design considerations and capabilities required? For instance, the ability to quickly generate a unique URI, manage state of the URI resource, including capturing clicks, timestamps, etc. while scaling to potentially hundreds if not thousands of concurrent requests requires some thought.
In this talk, we'll look at why Node.js is the perfect framework for building a fast, slick little URL shortening service that is easy to maintain and scales really well on the web. We'll look at how easy it is to get up and running with free Windows Azure Websites along with persistence options and who knows, we might just write the next killer URL shortening service!
You will learn:
- What Node.js is all about
- Good applications for Node.js (and those to avoid)
- A pragmatic example of how to apply Node.js for building a highly scalable, but simple API on Windows Azure Websites