I'm currently developing a community (like a lightweight "social network") for a limited (local) target. This is the first project where SEO doesn't matter and where I can happily exclude no-js users. That's why I'm thinking to start the project over and write my first site that is completely build with Javascript and my first Node application for educational reasons.
Details so far:
Browser: jQuery, maybe JavaScriptMVC (there are some things I don't like about JavaScriptMVC (like the routes), maybe I write my own little MVC or do you know a better suited framework?)
Server: Node.JS, Express framework, (maybe socket.io or nowjs for further features)
I got a few questions so far. I know it's better to ask a single question but there are more or less connected:
Express looks really nice but I'm missing MVC. I couldn't find any project that implements mvc and is build on Express. Is there a reason for that? Routing is nice in Express but I need a way to spread code across multiple files (controllers would be the best way I guess, the application won't be small and I need it maintainable)
The application will be more or less completely based on AJAX (json) requests. Is Express the right framework for such applications, anyway? I think the best way to write this project is to expose a json REST api which can then be queried by the web application over AJAX and by a mobile device app (which I'm also going to write). In my opinion Express' route system is quite suited for REST. But feel free to recommend other frameworks.
Have you seen Swagger? An API server available in Node.js with an automated UI Generator.
(source: wordnik.com)