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

nobot_ex_018

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

Social media is paramount to the success of any company. As a games studio, for example, you would have to market your game and provide links. These links can be long and take up quite a lot of space, which is a problem when you have character limits.

# Link shorteners

**Bitly** and **TinyURL** services are referred to as _link shorteners_. They take a long URL and shrink it into a smaller equivalent. Take this URL from my blog as an example:

## Long URL

<pre>
http://smks.co.uk/travel/bali-2017/bali-2017-part-12/
</pre>

After running it through a service such as **Bitly**:

## Short URL

<pre>
http://bit.ly/2jklAQb
</pre>

The benefits are more than just having fewer characters. If you sign up for one of the services, you are able to track when the links are shared and clicked on. Here is a walkthrough of an example of passing a URL as an argument and receiving the URL back in a shortened form.

Learn how to shorten links that are long and take up space.

Email

Shorten URL

Introduction

Part 1 — Examples

Part 2 — Build Tool

Wrapping Up

Appendix

Shorten URL

Link shorteners

Long URL

Short URL