# Learn (How to Deploy a Web Application on) Heroku
## Why?
You know how to _create_ a web application,
but that knowledge is only _useful_
if you how to _show_ the app to people!
## What?
Easily deploy your node.js web application to Heroku
so you can start testing it with end-users as soon as possible!
You'll have a _public_ URL for your app in 5 minutes which you can share
with real people and get feedback/validation for your idea!
### "Top 7" Key Benefits:
+ Basic apps are ***Free***!! (_e.g. Demo, Hackathon or "Low Traffic"
Personal "Blog" or Portfolio site_)
+ _***Quick and Easy Deployment***_ from your development machine or GitHub!
A couple of clicks or a single command is all it takes!
+ Excellent **knowledge base** / documentation for
both simple and advanced topics!
(_if you get stuck,
[**ask a question**](https://github.com/dwyl/learn-heroku/issues)
we can/will help!_)
+ ***Continuous Deployment*** is easy from a GitHub repository using "Hooks".
(_see step-by-step tutorial below!_)
+ Great Range of of "**Addon Services**" you can use with your app
in a couple of clicks (_e.g: PostgreSQL, ElasticSearch, Monitoring etc._)
and most have a "free tier"
so you can get started without spending a penny!
See: https://elements.heroku.com/addons
+ "_Industry Standard_" ***Service Quality*** is _really_ good
(_under the hood Heroku uses Amazon Web Services
but they do all the "plumbing" so you don't have to waste time on "DevOps"
until you're ready to scale, at which point just pay for a pro!_)
+ **Cost-effective** for your ***first 10k users***
(_don't waste your time on "DevOps" till you have validated your App Idea
with real people!_)
## Who?
_Anyone_ building for the web who values their _time_ and wants/needs
a _painless_ way to ***deploy, monitor and automatically scale***
an app!
## How?
### Beginner: Basic Heroku Deployment of Node.JS App in 5 Minutes
#### Pre-requisites:
+ **Computer** with a ***Web Browser***
+ **Internet Connection**
+ ***GitHub Account*** ... if you don't have one see:
[github.com/dwyl/github-reference#how-to-**sign-up**](https://github.com/dwyl/github-reference#how-to-sign-up)
+ Heroku account ... if you don't have one, sign up now: https://signup.heroku.com (_it's free! and **no credit card required**!_)
#### No Experience/Knoweldge Required
+ No Node.js or other knowledge required
+ All web-based (_no command line, we can learn that "CLI" later!_)
#### 1. Fork this repository on GitHub!
In your web browser navigate to:
[github.com/dwyl/**learn-heroku**](https://github.com/dwyl/learn-heroku)
(_if you aren't already on the page_)
Click the "fork" button:
You should now see something similar to this:
(_whith your GitHub username in place of mine_)
#### 2. Log into your Heroku Account and Create a New App
> **Note**: if you don't already have a Heroku account set one up now!
Visit: https://dashboard.heroku.com/new and create your new app.
_example_:
(_you will need to give your app a different name. all heroku apps are unique._)
#### 3. Use Heroku (Web) UI to Deploy the Application
Once you create your app in Heroku you will be shown the "***Deploy***" screen:
Connect your Heroku app to the GitHub Repository you created (_by forking_)
in step 1 (_above_).
##### Steps:
+ Click on the "Connect to GitHub" button
+ Search for the repository `learn-heroku` in our case
+ Click on "Connect" button.
Now click "**Enable Automatic Deploys**" to ensure that
any changes made on GitHub are automatically deployed on Heroku:
#### 4. Test The Deployment Works by Updating a File in the Forked Repo
Back in GitHub, use the Web user interface (UI) to edit one of the files
in your fork of `learn-heroku`.
My suggestion is update (_increment_) the version number
in the `package.json` file:
Click the edit icon:
In the edit view, increment the version number:
Now scroll down to the **Commit changes** section of the edit view:
write a descriptive commit message and click the "**Commit changes**" button.
> Note: we typically don't encourage people to `commit` directly to `master`
but given that this is your personal fork you can do it this one time.
You should see something like this:
That will trigger the Heroku deployment of the Hello World Application!
#### 5. Visit the Heroku App in your Web Browser
> In my case the URL for my app is: https://hello-world-heroku-node.herokuapp.com
You should expect to see:
#### Congratulations! You just set up your first Heroku App Deployment!
### Intermediate: Detailed Step-by-Step Instructions for _Your_ App
> To be added soon!
### Intermediate: Environment Variables on Heroku
see: [github.com/dwyl/learn-environment-variables#**environment-variables-on-heroku**](https://github.com/dwyl/learn-environment-variables#environment-variables-on-heroku)
### Advanced: Continuous Integration
A Version of your App for Each Pull Request!
> Help wanted!
### Advanced: Docker Containers
> as suggested by @gabrielperales in
https://github.com/dwyl/learn-heroku/issues/2
## Background Reading
- https://devcenter.heroku.com/articles/getting-started-with-nodejs
- http://build-podcast.com/heroku
## Frequently Asked/Ansered Questions (FAQ)
### Isn't Heroku "_Expensive_" for CPU/RAM You're Getting?
Heroku costs more per unit of computing resource than the equivalent
_infrastructure_ provider (_e.g: AWS/GoogleCloud/Azure/etc_)
but it's cheap if you factor developer's time as your biggest cost!
Setting up deployment to AWS with all the benefits/features Heroku has
out-of-the-box will take hours. So unless your developer's time is _free_
_or_ you _are_ the developer and want to spend a day on deployment
instead of building features to solve the end-user's problem,
use Heroku and focus on _building_ the product!
See: https://github.com/dwyl/learn-heroku/issues/3