Understanding process management is essential for production Node.js applications. Here's what you need to know.
Process Information
Signal Handling
Graceful Shutdown
Child Processes
Process Pool
Error Handling
Exit Codes
Health Checks
Best Practices
Signals:
✓ Handle SIGTERM for graceful shutdown
✓ Handle SIGINT for development
✓ Set timeout for forced shutdown
✓ Log shutdown progress
Error Handling:
✓ Catch uncaught exceptions
✓ Handle unhandled rejections
✓ Exit after uncaught exceptions
✓ Use proper exit codes
Production:
✓ Implement health checks
✓ Monitor memory usage
✓ Use process managers (PM2)
✓ Log to external service
Conclusion
Proper process management ensures reliable Node.js applications. Handle signals for graceful shutdown, manage child processes carefully, and always have proper error handling. Use health checks and monitoring for production visibility.