Developing with Node.js on Microsoft Azure - Getting Started

Course Overview
(light music) Hi, this is Scott Allen. And welcome to my course on Azure for Node js developers. In this course I'll show you how to work with Azure to deploy node applications into the Cloud. And once we have an application in Azure, we'll also see how to scale, monitor, and troubleshoot the application. By the end of this course, you'll have the knowledge you need to get started with Azure and build your own applications.

Foundational Concepts
Hi, this is Scott Allen and welcome to Developing with Node. js on Microsoft Azure. In this first module, we're going to talk about the Azure landscape, including what you can do with Azure as a software developer and also see the types of technologies that you can use to work with Azure. I also want to give you an introduction to the Azure Web Portal which is one place where we can go to manage the applications and other resources that we own inside of Azure as well as the Azure Command Line Interface which allows you to control Azure from a terminal window. By the end of the module, we'll have the knowledge that we need to go on and start deploying the applications, the web services and the databases that we will use in the rest of the course.

Building Web Applications and APIs
Hi, this is Scott and in the second module, we will look at building web applications and APIs with Microsoft Azure. We're going to focus on how to use Azure as a platform for our applications. So what we will do is scaffold out a new application and deploy the application into Azure app services. Before we get started on that path, I want to make sure I explain what I mean when I say that we will use Azure as a platform for our application.

Monitoring & Scaling Web Applications and APIs
Hi, this is Scott Allen, and in this module we will continue looking at app services in Azure and concentrate on monitoring, configuring, and scaling app services. This will give you everything you need to know to keep your app service healthy and happy. We're going to start by looking at the deployment slots feature of app services.

Using Cloud Databases
Hi, this is Scott. And this module of the course is about databases. Databases in the cloud. If our application needs to store data in a reliable fashion, and if our application needs to query an aggregate data to show to our customers, then we might need to set up a database. You can use nearly any type of database in Azure. We've already talked about infrastructure as a service with Azure. And if we set up our own virtual machines, we can run any database that works on Windows or Linux. In this module, we'll stick to using platform features of Azure or PaaS solutions. I'll show you how to create and configure two different types of cloud databases for your application. So let's get started by talking about a few of the database platform offerings in Azure.

Cloud Storage
Hi, this is Scott, and in this module, we'll be talking about Cloud Storage. We're already storing data in Azure Database Platforms, but now we'll be talking about storage accounts that can hold hundreds of terabytes of data. In this module, I'll show you how to use Azure Storage as a place to keep uploaded files in our web application and how we can allow users to download files from storage by creating and handing out what's known as a shared access signature.

Functions
Hi, this is Scott. And in this module, we're going to look at serverless computing with Azure Functions. Functions are a platform as a service offering from Azure that allows me to upload small bits of code in a function to define a service, a service that can react to HTTP calls like a traditional web API, but we can also define triggers for any function so the code inside will execute when a new blob appears in Blob Storage, or when a scheduled timer fires, or when a message appears in a message queue. There's many features to explore. And I want to show you how functions are an inexpensive way to host scalable logic in the cloud.

Continuous Integration
Hi, this is Scott, and in this module we set up continuous delivery for our web application. Continuous delivery is automating everything that happens after I check in some code to my source code repository. After I check in, I want my delivery process to automatically build the application and ensure my changes haven't conflicted with other changes in a way that would break the build. Then I might want to run some tests for my application if and everything passes, automatically deploy my application to Azure, perhaps in a staging slot or a testing slot so testers and integration test can run on a live app. Let's get started with an overview of the platform that we will be using.