# gRPC: The front door for Node.js developers

[Canonical article](https://www.ashryan.io/writing/grpc-for-node-js-developers/)

Published: 2021-06-17

Helpful resources and notes from learning gRPC as a Node.js developer, with a focus on practical next steps.

As I’ve been learning more about gRPC over the last couple of months, I’ve worked with a few resources that have been quite helpful. I’d like to share those here.

## A good second step for book readers

I like books. So I dug in with the O’Reilly book *gRPC: Up & Running* by Kasun Indrasiri and Danesh Kuruppu.

\_gRPC: Up & Running\_is a lay-of-the-land survey of gRPC, starting with an introduction to the technology, some getting started content, a deeper dive into communication patterns and how gRPC works under the hood, and more.

At this point, I can recommend the book as a *second* step into the world of gRPC for Node.js developers who like books.

However, I would caution against it as a first step into gRPC for JavaScripters for a few reasons:

1. The approach is more about reading to comprehend, rather than getting hands-on to learn (although there are try-it-out aspects of the book to be sure).
2. You’ll need to be ok reading (and trying) a decent amount of Go and Java examples.
3. I found the Node.js examples in the companion repo to be less than colloquial and in need of some updates.

These points aren’t intended to be a knock against the value of the book. In fact, I’ve found it to be a tremendous resource. But it’s probably not where you will be best served from a cold start with gRPC.

## A good first step for all

gRPC is a case where [the official website](https://www.grpc.io/?ref=ashryan.io) provides a smooth orientation from introduction to getting started.

Here’s the path I recommend:

1. [Introduction to gRPC](https://www.grpc.io/docs/what-is-grpc/introduction/?ref=ashryan.io)
2. [Core concepts](https://www.grpc.io/docs/what-is-grpc/core-concepts/?ref=ashryan.io)
3. [FAQ](https://www.grpc.io/docs/what-is-grpc/faq/?ref=ashryan.io)
4. [Node quick start](https://www.grpc.io/docs/languages/node/quickstart/?ref=ashryan.io)
5. [Node basics tutorial](https://www.grpc.io/docs/languages/node/basics/?ref=ashryan.io)

You may notice that this is verbatim what is laid out in the left-hand navigation of the site. I merely note the order above as validation that you can trust what you see: the written information is laid out in a logical order, concisely written, and approachable.

Also… the samples work, and read more like kind of Node.js code that I’m used to seeing.

## tl;dr

If you’re coming from a Node.js background and looking to dive into gRPC, that’s great!

I humbly recommend the following:

1. Start with [grpc.io](https://grpc.io/?ref=ashryan.io), reading the “What is gRPC?” section and following the Node.js tutorials.
2. For book readers (like me), for a deeper dive on what you’ve learned, read O’Reilly’s *gRPC: Up & Running.*

If you’ve got any other helpful gRPC resources to share, reach out and let me know about them!