20-Day Mastery Plan to Ace Node.

js
Interviews
This plan covers core Node.js concepts, advanced topics, performance optimization, and
common interview questions. Each day includes theory, hands-on practice, and interview
questions.

Week 1: Core Node.js Fundamentals

Day 1: Node.js Basics & Event Loop

● What is Node.js? How does it work?

● Understanding the Event Loop (Phases: Timers, I/O, Poll, Check, Close)
● Call Stack, Callback Queue, Microtask Queue
● Blocking vs Non-blocking code
● Interview Questions:
○ Explain the Node.js event loop.
○ What is libuv?
○ Difference between setImmediate() and process.nextTick()?

Day 2: Modules & CommonJS vs ES Modules

● Core Modules (fs, path, http, events)

● Creating & Exporting Modules
● CommonJS vs ES Modules (Differences, require vs import)
● Circular Dependency issue
● Interview Questions:
○ How does require() work in Node.js?
○ What is module.exports vs exports?
○ How to avoid circular dependencies?

Day 3: File System & Streams

● Synchronous vs Asynchronous File Operations (fs.readFile, fs.writeFile)

● Streams (Readable, Writable, Duplex, Transform)
● Piping & Chaining Streams
● Memory Efficiency with Streams
● Interview Questions:
○ Why use streams instead of fs.readFile?
 ○ How to handle large file uploads efficiently?
○ What is backpressure in streams?

Day 4: HTTP & Web Servers

● Creating an HTTP Server (http.createServer)

● Request & Response Handling
● Routing (Basic & with Express later)
● Serving Static Files
● Interview Questions:
○ How does HTTP work in Node.js?
○ What are status codes (200, 404, 500)?
○ How to handle POST requests?

Day 5: Express.js Framework

● Setting up Express
● Middleware (app.use, next())
● Routing & Route Parameters
● Error Handling Middleware
● Interview Questions:
○ What is Express.js? How is it different from http module?
○ Explain middleware in Express.
○ How to handle 404 errors?

Day 6: REST APIs & CRUD Operations

● REST Principles (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE)

● Building a CRUD API
● Request Validation (Joi, express-validator)
● Interview Questions:
○ What is REST?
○ How to structure a RESTful API?
○ How to handle file uploads in Express?

Day 7: Authentication & JWT

● Session vs Token-based Auth

● JWT (JSON Web Tokens)
● Implementing Auth Middleware
● Password Hashing (bcrypt)
● Interview Questions:
○ What is JWT? How does it work?
○ How to securely store passwords?
○ What is OAuth?
Week 2: Databases & Performance Optimization

Day 8: SQL Databases (PostgreSQL/MySQL)

● Connecting to DB (using pg or mysql2)

● Writing Queries (CRUD)
● ORM (Sequelize)
● Interview Questions:
○ Difference between SQL & NoSQL?
○ What is an ORM?
○ How to prevent SQL injection?

Day 9: NoSQL (MongoDB & Mongoose)

● MongoDB Basics (Collections, Documents)

● Mongoose (Schemas, Models)
● Aggregation Pipeline
● Interview Questions:
○ When to use MongoDB over SQL?
○ What is Mongoose?
○ How to optimize MongoDB queries?

Day 10: Caching (Redis)

● What is Caching?
● Redis Setup & Commands
● Caching API Responses
● Interview Questions:
○ Why use Redis?
○ How does caching improve performance?
○ What are cache eviction policies?

Day 11: WebSockets & Real-time Communication

● Socket.io Basics
● Building a Chat App
● Broadcasting Messages
● Interview Questions:
○ What are WebSockets?
○ How is Socket.io different from raw WebSockets?
○ How to handle reconnections?
Day 12: Performance Optimization

● Clustering (Using cluster module)

● Load Balancing
● PM2 for Process Management
● Interview Questions:
○ How to scale Node.js applications?
○ What is the cluster module?
○ How does PM2 help in production?

Day 13: Error Handling & Logging

● Global Error Handling

● Using try-catch vs Error Middleware
● Winston & Morgan for Logging
● Interview Questions:
○ How to handle uncaught exceptions?
○ Why is logging important?
○ What is structured logging?

Week 3: Advanced Concepts & System Design

Day 14: Microservices & Docker

● What are Microservices?

● Docker Basics (Containers, Images)
● Dockerizing a Node.js App
● Interview Questions:
○ What are microservices?
○ How does Docker help in deployment?
○ What is Kubernetes?

Day 15: Testing (Unit, Integration, E2E)

● Mocha & Chai

● Supertest for API Testing
● Mocking (Sinon)
● Interview Questions:
○ Why write tests?
○ Difference between unit & integration tests?
○ What is mocking?
Day 16: Security Best Practices

● Helmet.js
● Rate Limiting
● CSRF & XSS Protection
● Interview Questions:
○ How to secure an Express app?
○ What is CORS?
○ How to prevent DDoS attacks?

Day 17: GraphQL (Alternative to REST)

● GraphQL vs REST
● Apollo Server Setup
● Queries & Mutations
● Interview Questions:
○ What is GraphQL?
○ When to use GraphQL over REST?
○ What is N+1 problem in GraphQL?

Day 18: Serverless (AWS Lambda)

● What is Serverless?
● AWS Lambda Basics
● Deploying a Node.js Function
● Interview Questions:
○ What is serverless architecture?
○ Pros & cons of Lambda?
○ What is cold start?

Day 19: System Design for Node.js

● Designing a URL Shortener

● Scalability Considerations
● Database Sharding
● Interview Questions:
○ How to design a high-traffic API?
○ What is caching strategy?
○ How to handle millions of concurrent users?

Day 20: Mock Interviews & Revision

● Solve Real Interview Questions

● Mock System Design Discussions
● Revise Weak Areas
Final Tips:
✅ Build small projects daily (Todo App, Chat App, REST API)
✅ Practice coding challenges (HackerRank, LeetCode)
✅ Revise interview questions from each topic

By following this plan, you'll master Node.js and ace interviews confidently! 🚀

Good luck! 🎯
more detailed

20-Day Mastery Plan to Ace Node.js

Interviews (Ultra-Detailed Version)
This comprehensive plan covers every aspect of Node.js—from
fundamentals to advanced topics, performance optimization, security, and
system design. Each day includes:
✅ Detailed Theory
✅ Hands-on Coding Tasks
✅ Common Interview Questions
✅ Optimization Techniques

Week 1: Core Node.js & Backend Development

Day 1: Node.js Fundamentals & Event Loop Deep Dive

Theory:

● What is Node.js? (Single-threaded, Non-blocking I/O)

● Event-Driven Architecture (Callbacks, Promises, Async/Await)
● Event Loop Phases (Timers, Pending Callbacks, Poll, Check, Close)
● Microtasks vs Macrotasks (process.nextTick vs setImmediate)

Coding Tasks:

1. Write a script demonstrating blocking vs non-blocking code.

2. Simulate the event loop with setTimeout, setImmediate, Promise.resolve().
Interview Questions:

● How does Node.js handle asynchronous operations?

● Explain the difference between process.nextTick() and setImmediate().
● What is the role of libuv in Node.js?

Day 2: Modules, NPM & Package Management

Theory:

● CommonJS vs ES Modules (require vs import/export)

● node_modules & package.json (Dependencies, DevDependencies)
● Semantic Versioning (^, ~)
● NPM vs Yarn vs PNPM

Coding Tasks:

1. Create a custom module and export functions.

2. Use npm scripts to run a dev server.

Interview Questions:

● How does require() resolve modules?

● What is package-lock.json? Why is it important?
● Explain tree-shaking in ES Modules.

Day 3: File System & Streams (Performance-Critical)

Theory:

● fs module (Sync vs Async methods)

● Streams (Readable, Writable, Duplex, Transform)
● Backpressure Handling
● Piping & Chaining Streams

Coding Tasks:

1. Read a large file using streams (instead of fs.readFile).

2. Compress a file using zlib + streams.

Interview Questions:

● Why use streams instead of fs.readFile?

● What is backpressure in streams? How to handle it?
● How would you process a 10GB CSV file efficiently?
Day 4: HTTP, Web Servers & REST APIs

Theory:

● HTTP Methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE)

● Status Codes (200, 404, 500, 301)
● Request & Response Headers
● URL Parsing (querystring, url modules)

Coding Tasks:

1. Build a basic HTTP server without Express.

2. Implement query parameter parsing manually.

Interview Questions:

● How does HTTP work in Node.js?

● What is the difference between req.url and req.path?
● How would you handle file uploads in a Node.js server?

Day 5: Express.js & Middleware System

Theory:

● Express Core Concepts (app.use, app.get, app.post)

● Middleware (Logging, Authentication, Error Handling)
● Router-Level Middleware
● Error Handling Middleware

Coding Tasks:

1. Create an Express app with JWT authentication.

2. Implement a custom error-handling middleware.

Interview Questions:

● How does Express middleware work?

● What is the next() function?
● How to handle 404 errors in Express?

Day 6: Database Connections (SQL & NoSQL)

Theory:

● PostgreSQL/MySQL (Connection pooling, Transactions)

● MongoDB (Schemas, Indexes, Aggregation)
● ORMs (Sequelize, Mongoose)
Coding Tasks:

1. Connect to PostgreSQL using pg and run a transaction.

2. Build a MongoDB CRUD API using Mongoose.

Interview Questions:

● What is connection pooling? Why is it important?

● How do you optimize MongoDB queries?
● Explain ACID properties in SQL databases.

Day 7: Authentication & Security

Theory:

● Session vs Token-Based Auth

● JWT (JSON Web Tokens)
● OAuth 2.0 (Google, Facebook Login)
● Security Best Practices (Helmet, Rate Limiting, CORS)

Coding Tasks:

1. Implement JWT authentication in Express.

2. Secure an API with rate limiting.

Interview Questions:

● How does JWT work? What’s inside a JWT?

● What is CSRF? How to prevent it?
● How do you securely store passwords?

Week 2: Performance, Caching & Real-Time Apps

Day 8: Redis & Caching Strategies

Theory:

● What is Caching?
● Redis Commands (SET, GET, EXPIRE)
● Cache Invalidation Strategies

Coding Tasks:

1. Cache API responses using Redis.

2. Implement TTL (Time-To-Live) for cached data.
Interview Questions:

● Why use Redis over in-memory caching?

● What is cache stampede? How to prevent it?
● Explain LRU (Least Recently Used) Cache.

Day 9: WebSockets & Socket.io

Theory:

● WebSockets vs HTTP
● Socket.io (Rooms, Namespaces, Broadcasting)
● Handling Disconnections & Reconnections

Coding Tasks:

1. Build a real-time chat app with Socket.io.

2. Implement private messaging using rooms.

Interview Questions:

● How do WebSockets work under the hood?

● What are heartbeats in Socket.io?
● How to scale Socket.io horizontally?

Day 10: Clustering & Load Balancing

Theory:

● Single-Threaded Limitation
● cluster Module (Forking Worker Processes)
● PM2 (Process Manager)

Coding Tasks:

1. Use the cluster module to parallelize a CPU-heavy task.

2. Deploy an app using PM2.

Interview Questions:

● How does the cluster module work?

● What is load balancing?
● How does PM2 help in production?

Day 11: Error Handling & Logging

Theory:

● Global Error Handling (uncaughtException, unhandledRejection)

● Structured Logging (Winston, Morgan)
● Sentry for Error Tracking

Coding Tasks:

1. Implement centralized error handling in Express.

2. Log API requests using Morgan.

Interview Questions:

● How do you handle uncaught exceptions?

● Why is structured logging important?
● What is distributed tracing?

Day 12: Testing (Unit, Integration, E2E)

Theory:

● Mocha & Chai (Unit Testing)

● Supertest (API Testing)
● Mocking (Sinon, Nock)

Coding Tasks:

1. Write unit tests for a utility function.

2. Test an Express API endpoint using Supertest.

Interview Questions:

● What is mocking? When to use it?

● Difference between unit & integration tests?
● What is test-driven development (TDD)?

Day 13: Microservices & Docker

Theory:

● Monolith vs Microservices
● Docker Basics (Images, Containers, Volumes)
● Docker Compose

Coding Tasks:

1. Dockerize a Node.js app.

2. Run PostgreSQL + Redis using Docker Compose.
Interview Questions:

● What are the advantages of microservices?

● How does Docker improve deployment?
● What is Kubernetes?

Week 3: Advanced Topics & System Design

Day 14: GraphQL (Alternative to REST)

Theory:

● GraphQL vs REST
● Queries, Mutations, Subscriptions
● Apollo Server

Coding Tasks:

1. Build a GraphQL API for a blog.

2. Implement query batching.

Interview Questions:

● When to use GraphQL over REST?

● What is the N+1 problem in GraphQL?
● How does GraphQL caching work?

Day 15: Serverless (AWS Lambda)

Theory:

● What is Serverless?
● AWS Lambda (Cold Start, Triggers)
● Serverless Framework

Coding Tasks:

1. Deploy a Node.js function to AWS Lambda.

2. Trigger Lambda on S3 file upload.

Interview Questions:

● What is cold start in Lambda?

● How to reduce Lambda costs?
● When not to use serverless?
Day 16: Performance Optimization

Theory:

● Memory Leaks (How to detect & fix)

● CPU Profiling (--inspect, Chrome DevTools)
● Optimizing Database Queries

Coding Tasks:

1. Use node --inspect to debug memory leaks.

2. Optimize a slow MongoDB query.

Interview Questions:

● How do you find memory leaks in Node.js?

● What is V8 garbage collection?
● How to optimize API response time?

Day 17: Security Best Practices

Theory:

● OWASP Top 10 (XSS, SQL Injection, CSRF)

● Helmet.js (Secure Headers)
● Rate Limiting & DDoS Protection

Coding Tasks:

1. Secure an Express app using Helmet.

2. Implement rate limiting with Redis.

Interview Questions:

● How to prevent SQL injection?

● What is CORS? How to configure it safely?
● How does JWT token revocation work?

Day 18: System Design for Node.js

Theory:

● Designing a URL Shortener

● Database Sharding & Replication
● Caching Strategies (CDN, Edge Caching)
Coding Tasks:

1. Design a scalable URL shortener.

2. Implement consistent hashing for sharding.

Interview Questions:

● How would you design Twitter’s backend?

● What is database indexing?
● How to handle millions of concurrent users?

Day 19: Mock Interviews & Case Studies

● Solve Real Interview Questions

● Whiteboard System Design Problems
● Debugging Challenges

Day 20: Final Revision & Weak Areas

● Revise All Topics

● Practice Coding Challenges
● Mock Interviews

Final Tips for Success

🔥 Build 3-4 Mini Projects (Todo App, Chat App, REST/GraphQL API)
🔥 Practice LeetCode/HackerRank (Focus on Arrays, Strings, Async Problems)
🔥 Mock Interviews (Use Pramp or Interviewing.io)

By following this detailed plan, you’ll master Node.js and ace interviews with confidence!
🚀

Good luck! 🎯