Let me start by saying I’m only about 20% into the Full-Stack Course, so it’s entirely possible i simply don’t how much it is i don’t know. And i don’t know how things actually interact with each other.
The short version of my question is, Do i NEED node.js if i want to interact with a SQL database using Javascript?
I have a project in mind that I’m trying to learn how to program. Without going into unnecessary detail, it will be a website that has HTML forms. Those forms will be saved to a SQL database. Then that database can be viewed as a table on the website. There will probably be search functions, maybe a few reports. But boiled down to the bones. Forms get saved to SQL and get displayed back as tables.
Looking ahead at the Full-Stack syllabus, if I’m reading it right, it looks like it’s going to teach me to use Node.js to interact with the SQL database as the bridge between the front end and the back end. My problem comes from the fact that when i was pricing out web hosting, a simple website is as cheap as $3 a month. But the handful of hosting sites i looked at don’t support Node.js unless i get a dedicated server, which bumps that price up to the range of $70 a month. Way outside my budget for a silly little personal project that could just as easily be solved with an excel sheet.
Is this going to be a brick wall for me? Or am i misunderstanding the needs of my project? Or what path should i look down to avoid using node for this project?
Basically, i don’t want to “waste” the next 4 months learning how to program this project just to find out I’m not willing to pay the price to host it. So i’d like to plot my course now to avoid what looks to be a serious obstacle down the road.