Phase 2 · Node.js Fundamentals

Topics

Process & Environment Variables

Part of the Backend Developer Roadmap.

Summary

The global `process` object exposes info about the running Node instance (args, env vars, exit codes) — `process.env` is the standard way to configure an app without hardcoding secrets.

How to Learn This

  • 1Read a config value from `process.env` and provide a sensible default.
  • 2Use a `.env` file with a library like `dotenv` for local development.
  • 3Learn `process.exit()` codes and graceful shutdown handling (`SIGTERM`, `SIGINT`).
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