Top 10 Node JS Project Topics You Should Try Right Away

What’s up, coders! Did you know Node.JS is powered by the Google V8 Engine and operates in the back-end just as JavaScript operates in the front-end? More interestingly, Node.JS isn’t just for building dynamic websites. This nifty asynchronous event-driven JavaScript runtime is designed to build scalable network applications. The inefficiencies of thread-based networking aren’t unknown to developers. This is where Node.JS shines. Since almost no function in Node.JS directly executes I/O, there’s no better option reasonable enough to efficiently develop scalable systems.

Add an open-source state and cross-platform runtime environment; with Node.JS, codes can be run simultaneously on the server and the client-side, making the development process hassle-free. Following our last article on Creating APIs using Express in Node.JS, here we’ve gathered the best Node.JS projects ideas for beginners that will help you nail the concepts, train your skills, build an impressive portfolio, and land your dream job in full-stack development.

TOP 10 NODE.JS PROJECTS IDEAS FOR BEGINNERS

What’s unique about Node.JS is that it’s an open-source runtime environment, and thus, anyone can contribute to it and get started. Luckily, there are thousands of impressive projects on GitHub. Let's see the top 10 Node JS projects ideas for beginners:

1. Portfolio App

If you have just started with Node.JS, an impressive portfolio app is worth beginning with. Creating your portfolio app isn’t just an apt topic for your project but also facilitates you with an adept portfolio from day one.

Here's how you can build one:

1. First, concentrate on the visuals of your application, which will reveal your sense of style as well.
2. What’s unique about Node.JS is that it features different sets of controllers for each route. So, if your header and footer use the same code, you don’t have to repeat them across every page, which is greatly efficient.

2. Chat Application

Building your chat application using Node.JS has remained one of the simplest yet most popular topics for beginners. Node.JS is best suited for cross-platform applications where it runs on the client and the server-side simultaneously. With the help of virtual handshake and web socket, clients start with sending regular HTTP requests to the server first, following which it can directly share any data. You can further enhance your chat app's ability by implementing registration systems, chat records, and online/offline chat labels, just like your favorite chat app does.

3. Web Security

Careers in cybersecurity hold strong reputations in the future, and if you are interested as an avid programmer, you can bag pretty handsome jobs in leading MNCs. As an interesting project in Node.JS, spoofing websites are common, but there are unique web security projects as well. From restricting XSS attacks, abstaining from data leaks, utilizing security linters, implementing access control, to securing deserialization, Node.JS libraries and frameworks allow programmers and web security engineers to develop complicated systems without exposing them to vulnerabilities.

4. Gaming App

Developing an intuitive gaming app seems refreshing, isn’t it? An ideal balance between fun and work, creating the gaming app of your choice just requires basic programming skills. To begin with, start programming on Node.JS by using socket.io for providing real-time communication between the server and the client. Interestingly, you can also implement an applet that collects game progress from multiple clients. For larger apps, you can develop the CSS stylesheet and add richer UI elements. And that's all you need to effortlessly develop the gaming app of your choice.

5. Client/User Management System

This one is trending quite a lot among beginners and yet is something that can be implemented into every application. Almost every service nowadays requires user registration and login. But do you know creating such a repository isn't that difficult with Node.JS? User management systems are simple but will help you practice niche skills throughout your career in Node.JS. Major practicalities of such projects are setting up and migrating database, user registration and login, developing login endpoints, user authentication with JWT token, quickly accessing user data, and more.

6. Real-Time Collaboration App

Add a few more nifty features to your chat app, and you can develop fully-functional collaboration apps. Apart from text-based messaging, collaboration apps must include conferencing, document sharing, project management, and, most importantly, notifications. The feature sets seem extensive, but can be implemented just with Node.JS. The asynchronous architecture offered by Node.JS is best-suited for such applications where I/O requests are happening concurrently. This is why popular team collaboration apps like Trello and Microsoft Teams are built using Node.JS.

7. Natural Language Processing (NLP)

Interestingly enough, Node.JS already comes with natural language processing packages pre-baked in. So, if you are interested in integrating computational methods to speed and natural language recognition, Node.JS can do it for you without requiring any additional packages. You can build voice-to-text applications, implement voice search into web platforms, or even build simple auto-subtitling plugins for video players and podcast apps. And if you keep on enhancing your skills with NLP, you can build an effective AI or Machine Learning app/platform on a large scale.

8. Video Streaming Platform

Speaking of developing auto-subtitling plugins for video players using NLP, building video streaming platforms with Node.JS is tremendously eye-catching to beginners and helps you nail advanced skills. First, you should develop the routes for making new requests. Once the route has been built, you can scaffold the Nuxt front-end, where you have to design the homepage and dynamic player screen. Finally, videos route to fill the homepage with the data, while another request to stream the videos on the player screen. On top, you can also add requests to serve the captions.

9. To-Do List

To-do lists are simple to make, yet they allow you to understand the core concepts of programming. Simply create an empty page where users can record the tasks they need to complete throughout the day with checkboxes that mark their completion. Following this, different arrays can be created for completed and pending tasks. To build such an intuitive application using Node.JS, you need little effort into the CSS with neat UI looks. On that note, be sure to try out the Express framework, which is one of the minimalist and easy-to-use frameworks for beginners.

10. Email Sender

The last idea in our Node.JS project ideas is an email sender application. By creating email senders using Node.JS, you familiarize yourself with building complex applications on the framework. You also test out instrumental skills which will come in handy in your full-stack development career ahead. For this particular project, you can utilize the well-documented Nodemailer plugin while adding a basic front-end to your application with good-old HTML and CSS. This will ensure an easy-to-navigate, minimal UI while Nodemailer handles the complex back-end system.

Conclusion

Good programming with the right tools and skills can build your Node.JS project exactly the way you want. And in Node.JS, the practicalities are endless, where hundreds of open-source projects are available with unique Node.JS project ideas for beginners. Don't just limit your skills to the 10 projects listed above, and keep on following the Board Infinity Blog for more articles from programming on how you can ace your excellence in Full-Stack Development.

For those considering offshore Node.js development opportunities, there’s high demand in various global markets, and mastering these project ideas will give you a competitive edge. Offshore roles offer exposure to larger-scale projects, enhancing your practical experience with Node.js in diverse real-world scenarios.

If you are interested in pursuing a career in programming, check out Board Infinity’s 120+ hours Learning Path in Full-Stack Development with Certification where you can fast-track your career in the IT industry with our Full-Stack Development Course. Learn to build responsive websites and mobile applications from scratch using front-end and back-end JavaScript frameworks of the popular MERN Stack that includes MongoDB, Express, React, and Node.JS.