Node.JS 0.10 was recently released moving one step closer to the 1.0 release. Node has come a long way since the 0.4.x versions when I first started using it, most of its API is now stable and unlikely to undergo any major changes.
As my learning journey continues, I am discovering that some of the functionality that I have been implementing using 3rd party modules can, with a little bit of effort, be achieved using native Node modules. While 3rd party modules certainly make life easier for you, they hide some of Node's core API that would be useful to learn.
Going forward I intend to fight the edge to run the addictive npm install
command and seek a native solution first instead.