I'm trying to setup my own nodejs server, but I'm having a problem. I can't figure out how to see changes to my application without restarting it. Is there a way to edit the application and see changes live with node.js?
Check out node-supervisor. You can give it a collection of files to watch for changes, and it restarts your server if any of them change. It also restarts it if it crashes for some other reason.
http://github.com/isaacs/node-supervisor
"Hot-swapping" code is not enabled in NodeJS because it is so easy to accidentally end up with memory leaks or multiple copies of objects that aren't being garbage collected. Node is about making your programs accidentally fast, not accidentally leaky.
Nodules is a module loader for Node that handles auto-reloading of modules without restarting the server (since that is what you were asking about):
http://github.com/kriszyp/nodules
Nodules does intelligent dependency tracking so the appropriate module factories are re-executed to preserve correct references when modules are reloaded without requiring a full restart.
What's “Live Coding”?
In essence, it's a way to alter the program while it runs, without restarting it. The goal, however, is to end up with a program that works properly when we (re)start it. To be useful, it helps to have an editor that can be customized to send code to the server.
Take a look: http://lisperator.net/blog/livenode-live-code-your-nodejs-application/
Use this: https://github.com/remy/nodemon
Just run your app like this: nodemon yourApp.js