npm (Node Package Manager), is a command line tool to install, create, and share packages of JavaScript code written for Node.js. There are many open source packages available on npm, so before starting a project, take some time to explore so you don't end up recreating the wheel for things like working with dates or fetching data from an API.

In this course, you'll learn the basics of using npm, including how to work with the package.json and how to manage your installed dependencies.

Node.js is a JavaScript runtime that allows developers to write backend (server-side) programs in JavaScript. Node.js comes with a handful of built-in modules — small, independent programs — that help with this. Some of the core modules include HTTP, which acts like a server, and File System, a module to read and modify files.

In the last set of courses you learned to install and manage packages from npm, which are collections of smaller modules. These packages can help you build larger, more complex applications.

Express is a lightweight web application framework, and is one of the most popular packages on npm. Express makes it much easier to create a server and handle routing for your application, which handles things like directing people to the correct page when they visit a certain endpoint like /blog.

In this course, you'll learn the basics of Node and Express including how to create a server, serve different files, and handle different requests from the browser.

MongoDB is a database application that stores JSON documents (or records) that you can use in your application. Unlike SQL, another type of database, MongoDB is a non-relational or "NoSQL" database. This means MongoDB stores all associated data within one record, instead of storing it across many preset tables as in a SQL database.

Mongoose is a popular npm package for interacting with MongoDB. With Mongoose, you can use plain JavaScript objects instead of JSON, which makes it easier to work with MongoDB. Also, it allows you to create blueprints for your documents called schemas, so you don't accidentally save the wrong type of data and cause bugs later.

In the MongoDB and Mongoose courses, you'll learn the fundamentals of working with persistent data including how to set up a model, and save, delete, and find documents in the database.

Build a full stack JavaScript app that is functionally similar to this: https://timestamp-microservice.freecodecamp.rocks. Working on this project will involve you writing your code using one of the following methods:

• Clone this GitHub repo and complete your project locally.
• Use our Gitpod starter project to complete your project.
• Use a site builder of your choice to complete the project. Be sure to incorporate all the files from our GitHub repo. Note: Time zones conversion is not a purpose of this project, so assume all sent valid dates will be parsed with new Date() as GMT dates.

Build a full stack JavaScript app that is functionally similar to this: https://request-header-parser-microservice.freecodecamp.rocks/. Working on this project will involve you writing your code using one of the following methods:

Clone this GitHub repo and complete your project locally. Use our Gitpod starter project to complete your project. Use a site builder of your choice to complete the project. Be sure to incorporate all the files from our GitHub repo.

Build a full stack JavaScript app that is functionally similar to this: https://url-shortener-microservice.freecodecamp.rocks. Working on this project will involve you writing your code using one of the following methods:

Clone this GitHub repo and complete your project locally. Use our Gitpod starter project to complete your project. Use a site builder of your choice to complete the project. Be sure to incorporate all the files from our GitHub repo.

Build a full stack JavaScript app that is functionally similar to this: https://exercise-tracker.freecodecamp.rocks. Working on this project will involve you writing your code using one of the following methods:

Clone this GitHub repo and complete your project locally. Use our Gitpod starter project to complete your project. Use a site builder of your choice to complete the project. Be sure to incorporate all the files from our GitHub repo.

Build a full stack JavaScript app that is functionally similar to this: https://file-metadata-microservice.freecodecamp.rocks. Working on this project will involve you writing your code using one of the following methods:

Clone this GitHub repo and complete your project locally. Use our Gitpod starter project to complete your project. Use a site builder of your choice to complete the project. Be sure to incorporate all the files from our GitHub repo. HINT: You can use the multer npm package to handle file uploading.