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Ask HN: Suggested backend(s) for JavaScript MVC tutorial?

2 points by eliot_sykes ↗ HN
I'm considering writing a tutorial on JavaScript MVC frameworks, and a large part of it would ideally use a backend for server dependent demos like signing a user in and making RESTful API calls.

What do you suggest as ways of making this backend easy to run locally for a range of developer experience and operating systems? The only thing the developers would have in common is that they know some JavaScript.

6 comments

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facorreia
PHP is known for being widely supported and easy to get running. It does require integration with a web server, though, which can present some complexities for novice installing it on random environments (which may already have a web server running, so configuration instructions become complex).

Node.js would be an interesting alternative because you could keep it JavaScript-only across the tiers. It is supported across operating systems and it's easy to install. For instance, on Windows it can be installed as "cinst nodejs".

For database I recommend SQLite since it would avoid a lot of friction associated with database servers (ports, permission, etc.)

kissmd
if static data is enough, you can simple place it to files and serve as simple http
eliot_sykes
Is there a particular server you'd recommend?
kissmd
sry for the late answer.

you don't even need to run apache or a node.js file server for this.

just put your responses into files on a relative path according to your request. eg: api/product/31.json api/product?orderby=name api/product?orderby=price

so if you have a demo webapp just package the static data with your app and redirect/configure api calls to the service in the live app