[tylerkahn]

The model I was shooting for was having your API be an independent HTTP rest service (whatever framework/language you want) with the nodejs server consuming it to render the initial view and then the client also consuming it in order to carry on with execution.

Martyjs (and the marry-express module) makes this very easy to do in that you can write your application without having to consider the context in which it is running (server or client).

I think the backend DB integration is a separate concern from how to build isomorphic js apps.

In terms of test coverage I don't have much experience testing js apps so I can't speak to the pain points there.

[bpicolo]

Yeah, I think that's a reasonable model where it will make sense since the client/backend can actually be more or less identical, since they'd both just be consuming REST.

But that's a pretty painful way to start a project as well. /shrug