Node.js and Socket.IO

6:00 - 6:45 Socket.io and Node.js for games, by David Geary

6:45 - 7:15 Dinner

7:15 - 8:15 Node.js, by Scott Davis

Socket.io and Node.js for HTML5 games

Storing high scores on, and sending in-game metrics to a server from your HTML5 game sounds complicated. You've got to send data back and forth between the player's computer and the server. And you need some sort of events, such as 'get current high score' or 'store new high score'. How do you do all that?

Although it sounds difficult, it's easy if you use node.js and socket.io, but it's one of those things that's really only easy once you know how. After this talk, you'll know how. You'll also see how to implement a heads-up display using CSS to show high scores in a bona-fide HTML5 video game.

About David Geary:

David is the author of Core HTML5 Canvas and the co-founder of the HTML5 Denver User Group (https://www.meetup.com/HTML5-Denver-Users-Group/). He is currently writing a book on HTML5 2D game development.

Node.js: More Than Just Another Web Server

Every conference talk you see about Node.js, every book that you read about Node.js, every example you see always rushes straight to writing a web app. While Node.js certainly excels at web apps, there is so much more to explore in this exciting new platform that allows you to run JavaScript outside of the browser.

In this talk, we'll give you a solid understanding of what Node.js is. We'll explore the built-in packages that give you access to the file system and to command-line input. We'll learn about the vibrant ecosystem of plug-ins and supporting libraries available to you via CommonJS and NPM (the Node Package Manager). And, yes, we might even write the obligatory web app.

About Scott Davis:

Scott Davis is the founder of ThirstyHead.com (http://thirstyhead.com/), a training and consulting company that that specializes in leading-edge technology solutions like HTML 5, mobile development, SmartTV development, NoSQL, Groovy, and Grails. Scott co-founded the HTML5 Denver User Group (https://www.meetup.com/HTML5-Denver-Users-Group/) in 2011.