Stackdriver can monitor standalone applications by capturing metrics and logs. It has support for major platforms and libraries, so our technology choices should not be a concern. In this case, we are going to create a Node.js application for several reasons:
- It is easy to understand
- The official examples are well documented for the Node.js version
- Node.js is increasingly becoming a big platform for enterprise and startups
The first thing we need to do is write a small Node.js application. Create a new folder and execute this command:
npm init
Follow the instructions on the screen and you should now have package.json in the folder that you just created. Now it is time to install the dependencies:
npm install --save ...
