Monthly Meetup: Exponent and React Native, npm, Node.js + Visual Studio

It's the 2nd Thursday of the month, time to hang out with your fellow web developers!

This month, we will be hearing about an exciting new software, the awesomeness of Node.js combined with Visual Studio and bobbleheads (?!) and npm!

If you're interested in presenting at a future Seattle JS meetup, feel free to submit a talk (https://github.com/seattlejs/seattlejs/blob/master/request-to-speak.md).

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Topic 1: Exponent and React Native
by Charlie Cheever
@ccheever (http://twitter.com/ccheever) | gh: ccheever (http://github.com/ccheever)

http://photos3.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/c/c/b/8/600_444292408.jpeg

bio:: Charlie grew up in Pittsburgh and is a Harvard graduate. He has worked for Amazon.com as an SDE and as an engineer and manager at Facebook, working on a variety of projects from Facebook Platform to Facebook Connect. He is the co-founder of Quora, a question-and-answer service, and is currently working on a startup called Exponent.

abstract:: Exponent is a software that allows developers to use just JavaScript to write feeling experiences on iOS and Android. You can go from zero to having your first Exponent project running on your phone in less than 5 minutes.

Exponent is two pieces of software -- desktop software you run on your computer and a client you run on your phone. When you're running the desktop software, you can edit JavaScript in your text editor, and our software will turn it into a bundle that the Exponent client can interpret.

Exponent is built on top of React Native, an open source project from Facebook, which targets the popular React JS framework at native views on both iOS and Android. This means you can easily take anything you write in Exponent and package it into an app you submit to the Apple App Store and/or Google Play.

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Topic 2: Node.js + Visual Studio + Bobbleheads = AWESOME
by Sara Itani
@mousetraps (http://twitter.com/mousetraps) | gh: mousetraps (http://github.com/mousetraps)

http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/c/c/c/c/600_444292428.jpeg

bio:: Sara works on Node.js tools at Microsoft and contributes to many of Microsoft’s other Node.js efforts. At first, she was skeptical about Node.js – that is, until she realized its full potential… Now, she’s all in, and excited to help it take over the world by bringing the power of Visual Studio to the Node.js community. She, for one, welcomes our new JavaScript Overlords.

abstract:: We'll cover getting started w/ Node.js and setting up a rockin’ dev environment, overcoming common gotchas without pulling your hair out, managing packages for your Node.js apps like a champ, and SO MANY BOBBLEHEADS (we’ll explain later…)

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Topic 3: You Don't Know npm!
by Ashley Williams
@ag_dubs (http://twitter.com/ag_dubs) | gh: ashleygwilliams (http://github.com/ashleygwilliams)

http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/4/4/1/f/600_444497439.jpeg

bio:: Ashley Williams is the developer community and content manager at npm, Inc. In so many words, it's her problem when you don't understand how npm works. Previously a backend and services engineer at Mozilla, and a web engineer and educator at Bocoup, Ashley has a long history of designing, developing, and teaching systems and systems architecture. A former NYC Teaching fellow, she also has an extensive history in education. In her spare time, she enjoys jokes, continental philosophy, activism, and programming language design.

abstract:: npm is the package manager for JavaScript and has set the tone and implemented the tools for the modular JavaScript application architecture. This is no small feat: Everyday, nearly 2,500,000 npm installs occur. However, npm has more to offer than meets the eye.

This workshop will take you past the simple npm install, introducing you to a wide range of features that takes the workflow you know and love and makes it even easier to incorporate into your company and personal development practice. From team access management, to project lifecycle scripts, to safe and reliable deploy strategies, you'll learn how to take npm and your software to the next level.

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Sponsors

http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/2/5/2/8/600_444129512.jpeg

A massive thank you to EMC Isilon for hosting our meetup this month as well as providing food and drink for one and all!