[GTALUG] Docker, NodeJS and complexity

[Giles Orr]

On Thu, 22 Apr 2021 at 09:56, William Witteman via talk <talk at gtalug.org> wrote:
>
> I have some existing projects to contribute to that use NodeJS and Docker, and I am finding that getting set up to work on them is extremely daunting.
>
> I have never really used Docker.  I have never really used NodeJS/npm/etc.
>
> I do know Javascript, but I don't build projects like this - it reminds me of Ruby-on-Rails, which I found to be a huge snarl of complexity.
>
> I know that the initial development was done on Macs, but in theory at least, I should be able to set up the Docker container and use that to get me into an equivalent development environment, but I don't really know how.
>
> Does anyone have a Debian-flavoured tutorial for setting up Docker/NodeJS so that I can build and run someone else's code?

Hi William.

Another option to consider is VirtualBox (or something like it).  I
suppose this depends on your familiarity with VB: I'm very familiar
with it, so spinning up a new machine in VB is quite straightforward
for me.  I'm not claiming VB is better (it definitely uses more
resources), just that you could find it easier if you're comfortable
with it.  I also found Docker a struggle to get started with, and
throwing a new language on top of that makes it really daunting.  Best
of luck.

-- 
Giles
https://www.gilesorr.com/
gilesorr at gmail.com