Node.js Tools for Visual Studio 1.0 Beta Now Available for Download

Following Microsoft’s Build 2014 developer conference in San Francisco, the company announced the availability of its Node.js Tools for Visual Studio 1.0 Beta (NTVS). Although Microsoft has provided great support for Node.js in Azure through Azure Web Sites and Azure Mobile Services, the availability of NTVS provides developers with a productive solution for developing Node.js applications with Azure.

Related: Microsoft Announces Slew of Improvements to Windows Azure at Build 2014

In this release, Microsoft is providing several different features that improve the overall productivity experience for developers working with Node.js tooling within Visual Studio. New features include expanded support for Visual Studio Express for Web, debugging improvements, remote debugging in Azure, and Azure Worker role support.

Related: Top Windows Azure Adoption Statistics from Build 2014

With this release, NTVS is now available for Visual Studio 2013 Express for Web. Coupled with the Azure Node.js SDK, you can now build high-performance Node.js websites and apps using Visual Studio and Azure. Furthermore, there’s now debugging support in NTVS when you use F5 to run your Node project from Visual Studio and when you remote debug a Node.js app running on Windows Azure.

Figure 1: Using NTVS to debug Node.js apps running on Windows Azure

See Microsoft’s blog post for a complete list of included new features and capabilities. In the meantime, follow SharePoint Pro for new updates and tips every day!