A Comprehensive Guide To Hiring Node.js Developers

Node.js has been a popular choice among developers for over a decade, with companies like Walmart, LinkedIn, eBay, and GoDaddy incorporating it into their tech stack. One of the main reasons for its popularity is its low barrier to entry, making it accessible for beginners. However, as a CTO looking to hire Node.js Developers, paying attention to the specific skills required to utilize the technology effectively is essential. These skills include knowledge of JavaScript and asynchronous programming and expertise in database management, error handling, and code streamlining. This blog will guide organizations to hire Node.js Developers with the proper skill set and includes an infographic with key interview questions to assist in hiring.

Duties And Responsibilities Of Node.js Developers

As a Node.js developer, your primary responsibilities include the following:

Facilitating the exchange of data between the servers and users.
Developing server-side logic and maintaining the central database.
Ensuring high responsiveness to requests from the front end.
Prioritizing application security and data protection.
Solving database queries and recording frontend transactions.

8 Facts To Consider When Hiring Node.js Developers

1. Do They Possess Expertise In Utilizing Application Monitoring Tools?

Node.js Developers need experience and knowledge of Application Monitoring Tools (APM) to prevent service downtimes, reduce performance bottlenecks, and resolve memory leaks. Having the right APM tools is essential for a successful Node.js project as it provides necessary insights into how the application behaves at any given time.

There are many options available in the market, especially with the widespread use of microservices architecture, so selecting the right tools requires experience and knowledge of their functionalities. Some top choices for APM tools include the ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana), Prometheus, and Grafana. The ELK Stack is a simple and robust solution for log analysis and providing insights into app performances.

Prometheus is an open-source monitoring and alerting solution that provides multi-dimensional data collection. Grafana is an open-source analytics software that allows developers to convert time-series databases into easily understandable graphs and visualizations. The combination of Prometheus and Grafana has become a preferred monitoring stack for DevOps teams.

2. Are They Familiar With The Fundamentals Of The Frontend Technology Stack?

While Node.js developer primarily focuses on the backend of an application, it is beneficial for them to have a basic understanding of frontend technologies. This understanding allows them to modify code to meet user expectations and improve team collaboration by having a mutual understanding of their roles. In an interview, it can be helpful to discuss the candidate’s knowledge of HTML, JavaScript, CSS, AJAX, frontend frameworks such as Angular and Vue, and libraries such as React and JQuery. Additionally, inquire about the compatibility of frontend technologies that are well-suited for Node.js applications to assess their frontend understanding.

3. Are They Proficient In Utilizing Various Test Runners And Tools?

As developers widely use Node.js, new testing tools and frameworks are being developed specifically for Node.js applications. However, choosing the appropriate testing tool requires understanding the suitability of different tools based on the project type, complexities, and requirements. An experienced developer can identify gaps and potential risks in the code and suggest a testing strategy that yields better results in your deployments.

Some testing tools that developers recommend to assess a candidate’s expertise in testing Node.js apps include Mocha, Jasmine, Jest, and Ava. Mocha is an open-source JS testing framework that runs asynchronous tests on Node.js applications and is compatible with Chai, an assertion library for JS frameworks. Jasmine is another BDD framework for JavaScript that does not depend on other JS frameworks or DOM manipulation. Jest is a JS testing framework and assertion library for Node.js applications that can run previously failed tests and organize test runs based on the time taken to test files.

Ava is a test-runner for Node.js with a simple syntax, the ability to run fast and concurrent tests, a concise API, detailed error output, and eliminates the use of globals.

4. Are They Familiar With Using Alternate Package Managers?

Node.js uses well-tested and open-source packages to promote faster development and eliminate the need to rewrite code. Developers use package managers to handle these packages, and it’s essential to check if the candidate you hire has in-depth knowledge of npm, the default package manager for Node.js. One way to gauge a developer’s expertise is to ask them about alternative package managers they use to achieve better results. For example, Yarn is a well-known alternative package manager for Node.js applications; it installs packages faster than npm and uses local cache memory instead of waiting for the downloading process to complete.

Additionally, it installs packages in parallel and arranges network requests in a queue to optimize the network. Another alternative is pnpm, known for solving the NPM “doppelganger” issues, by installing one copy of all required packages on the disk and creating a hard link to the node modules directory for installation. This feature can save significant disk space.

5. Do They Have Proficiency In Utilizing Multiple ORM Tools For Databases?

An ORM (Object Relational Mapping) library is necessary for mapping between objects and relational databases when starting a medium or large-scale project. Different database systems access data in various ways, and ORM helps maintain the consistency of things, even if the sources or apps they access might change over time. ORM enables streamlining the migration process between different databases. Therefore, it’s essential to consider if a candidate has a good command over ORM tools. The ORM tools favoured by experienced developers include Sequelize, Bookshelf, and Mongoose.

Sequelize is a popular, stable, well-documented ORM for Node.js that supports databases such as MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, and SQLite. Bookshelf is one of the oldest ORM JS libraries for Node.js, with a concise codebase, traditional callback interfaces, superior transaction support, and polymorphic associations. Mongoose is best suited for MongoDB; it’s one of the most popular ORMs, facilitating query building and built-in typecasting. It’s also sponsored by the Tidelift platform, which means security issues are identified and resolved promptly.

6. Are They Proficient In Utilizing Well-Known Cloud Platforms?

Deploying web applications on the Cloud has many benefits, and looking for candidates with prior experience working with the top cloud platforms is essential. Some commonly used cloud platforms for Node.js applications include Amazon Web Services (AWS) with Elastic Beanstalk for deploying, managing scaling the application and Lambda for serverless hosting; Microsoft Azure with its fully managed App Service for building, deploying and scaling applications; Google Cloud with its low latency network, PaaS solution ‘App Engine’ and ‘Kubernetes Engine’ to run a Node.js application in a container; Heroku which offers free Node.js hosting, seamless 3rd party integrations and detailed documentation for beginners; and Netlify which is a developer-friendly cloud platform that allows developers to import components directly from the Git repositories and offers a “drag and drop” functionality for faster deployments.

7. Do They Possess Proficiency In Utilizing Node.Js Template Engines?

A template engine is used to create HTML templates with minimal code, which improves the performance of an application. Many template engines are available for Node.js applications, including Mustache, Pug, Nunjucks, Swig, and many more. However, Marko and Handlebars are the preferred choices for developers due to their simple and user-friendly features. Marko is a short and fast template library for JS that requires a good understanding of CSS, HTML, and JS.

Developers can declaratively build an application by describing how the view modifies over time and responds to various user actions. It also offers progressive rendering that allows developers to load HTML, assets, and images as soon as they are ready without waiting for client-side JS rendering. Handlebars, on the other hand, are compatible with Mustache and developers can replace them with Mustache templates and continue working on the application.

Additionally, it compiles templates into JS functions for faster template execution. To gauge a candidate’s development style, you can ask them to describe why they prefer specific templating engines and see if it matches your organization’s standards.

8. Do They Possess A Deep Understanding Of Node.Js User Authentication?

Authentication and authorization of users are crucial for any web application. Therefore, a developer needs to have a thorough understanding of the user authentication process. Fortunately, using third-party services such as Passport.js can simplify the authentication process compared to building it from scratch. However, Passport, while being “simple and unobtrusive” and flexible, still requires significant effort to implement in a production environment, depending on the application’s needs. Additionally, using a password-hashing library such as Bcrypt can provide an extra layer of security for the passwords, keeping hackers at bay and protecting user information.

Assessing The Flexibility Of A Node.Js Developer's Learning Curve

Node.js has a relatively short learning curve for developers with a solid understanding of server-side Javascript fundamentals. When searching for developers, looking for those who have experimented with Node.js in various ways and have experience working with coding and testing is essential.

Even though developers may have taken many online tutorials and courses, focusing on those with practical experience in coding and testing Node.js applications is ultimately what matters.

One way to evaluate a developer’s skills is to ask them to provide a diverse portfolio of their work in Node.js, such as projects they’ve worked on for clients, open-source contributions, or small demonstrations.

To assist in this assessment, we have included an infographic that discusses a set of interview questions to help you gauge the right skills of Node.js Developers.

Why Choose WTA Studios For Node.Js Development

By choosing WTA Studios as your Node.js development partner, you can build a robust backend for your application. Our expert and qualified Node.js Developers can assist you in:

Developing and integrating customized Node.js APIs
Upgrading existing applications and improving app performance
Building and deploying cross-platform mobile applications
Migrating your current web application to Node.js
Creating Node.js Plugins to add new functionalities to your application

We begin by conducting a detailed consultation with our clients to understand their technical goals, development styles, and communication channels. From there, we carefully select candidates that fit seamlessly within any organization. To ensure efficiency in our selection process, we encourage complete information about the project and provide Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) to maintain the confidentiality of shared knowledge.

Manish Surapaneni

A Visionary & Expert in enhancing customer experience design, build solutions, modernize applications and leverage technology with Data Analytics to create real value.

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