authKey

deploy_repo

https://github.com/smks/nobot-website.git

template_repo

https://github.com/smks/nobot-template-rock-paper-scissors

twilio_sid

twilio_auth_token

twilio_phone

twilio_spouse_phone

bitly_token

host

port

from_email

to_email

Game Studios Team < gamestudios@games4u.com >

username

password

Gain insights into automating repetitive tasks with Node.js. Delve into creating global commands and bespoke build tools to streamline workflows and enhance productivity.

Automating with Node.js by Shaun Stone 2_468 x 60.png

nobot.tar.gz

nobot_ex_001

nobot_ex_002

nobot_ex_003_build

nobot_ex_003_parse

nobot_ex_004

nobot_ex_005

nobot_ex_006

nobot_ex_006_gui

nobot_ex_007_read_json_bad

nobot_ex_007_read_json

nobot_ex_007_write_config

nobot_ex_008

nobot_ex_009_log_color

nobot_ex_009_colors

nobot_ex_010

nobot_ex_011

nobot_ex_012_setup

nobot_ex_012

nobot_ex_014

nobot_ex_015

nobot_ex_016

nobot_ex_017

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nobot_ex_019

configuration

email_exercise

game_preview

nobot_ex_013

nobot_ex_020_gui

part2-build-tool

While developing web applications, anything that feels repetitive should ring alarm bells for you. If a task is loaded with manual work, then why not write scripts that can deal with it for you? 

In this course, you will learn how to deal with many repetitive tasks such as zipping files, emailing colleagues, and deploying your work at the press of a button. You will learn to create global commands and a working bespoke Node build tool that allows you to automate the repetitive tasks you hate doing. 

The course will be divided into two parts. The first part is a collection of recipes or building blocks that behave as individual global commands. These can be used as you go about your day and can be called at any time to speed up your workflow or just for pure convenience.

The second part is a walkthrough of creating a cross-platform build tool from the ground up that you and your team can use to speed up your workflow.

Automating With Node.js

Since you will be interacting with the CLI, there is a requirement to pass your own input. With Bash, arguments are passed by number and prefixed with a dollar sign.

> **Note:** Since you will not be working with Bash, there is no need to test out the Bash examples. They are used only for demonstration.

# Bash vs. Node comparison

## Bash example

Before you try this out in Node, see how this would look in Bash. In this example, you will run the Bash script and pass a name to it as an argument. Since this is the first argument, you can access it in the script using `$1`.

```
$ bash my-bash-script.sh 'Fred Flintstone'
... running script
```

The `my-bash-script.sh` looks like this:

```shell
name="$1"
#name is now - 'Fred Flintstone'
```

## Node example

You can not do this with Node as conveniently. Instead, you can use a native object called `process`, which includes all the values related to the process of the script. For the time being, you should work to obtain the arguments.

You can see what happens when you do this using Node. Suppose you have a script named `my-node-script.js`:

```
node my-node-script.js 'Fred Flintstone'
```

When running the above operation, you are initiating a new `process`. So what is in this `process` object? An array called `argv`.

The `my-node-script.js` script looks like this:

```JS
const args = process.argv; 
/*
the args array is now
[ 
  '/usr/local/bin/node',
  '/usr/src/app/my-node-script.js', 
  'Fred Flintstone'
]
*/
```

As you can see above, you have three elements in the array. The first one is the full path of the node executable, the second is the full path of the script you are executing, and the third is the first argument you passed from the CLI. It is a common misconception to think that the first argument you pass, `Fred Flintstone`, is referenced as the first element of the array. So remember that your arguments will start from the third index of the `process` array onwards. Usually, there is no need for the first two elements of the `process` array, so you should remove them.

```JS
const args = process.argv.slice(2);
/*
args is now
[    
  'Fred Flintstone'
]
*/
```

Now that you have removed the array elements that you do not need, you are left with the arguments that were passed to the script.

# Bash vs. Node comparison

## Bash example

Before you try this out in Node, see how this would look in Bash. In this example, you will run the Bash script and pass a name to it as an argument. Since this is the first argument, you can access it in the script using `＄1`.

```
$ bash my-bash-script.sh 'Fred Flintstone'
... running script
```

The `my-bash-script.sh` looks like this:

```shell
name="$1"
#name is now - 'Fred Flintstone'
```

Learn and practice how to use arguments with Node, in this lesson.

Arguments

Introduction

Part 1 — Examples

Part 2 — Build Tool

Wrapping Up

Appendix

Arguments

Bash vs. Node comparison

Bash example